What's new

Vintage bakelite with unscrewable handle - why?

Saw this puppy while randomly trolling around on eBay (yay for being in the office the afternoon before a holiday!) Can quite figure out the point of the handle unscrewing like that - is it for holding soap slivers while you travel? Doesn't seem to break down any smaller, so it can't be for storage?
 

luvmysuper

My elbows leak
Staff member
I have heard (no empirical evidence) that the bases were made in different colors, and that this screw together form was just an easy way to put out a product with different colored bases.
 
I have heard (no empirical evidence) that the bases were made in different colors, and that this screw together form was just an easy way to put out a product with different colored bases.

Can't be bothered to pull up pictures, but I've seen similar brushes that (today, anyway) are red, green, or butterscotch in color. Still, don't know why that means they need to be user-replaceable (and I don't see this being a "faceplate-like" market where the end user likes to change it up). Maybe it's just the simplest way to manufacture it at the time.
 
I have a modern Italian travel kit where the base if the brush screws off and holds a shave soap stick. Perhaps here too?
 

luvmysuper

My elbows leak
Staff member
Look at the underside of these brushes.
Not exactly a beautiful work of art, just ugly unfinished swirls of brush epoxy.
Whatever the purpose of the screw off handle, I don't think it was as a storage area, just too unfinished for that.
 

Rudy Vey

Shaving baby skin and turkey necks
In WW2 spy equipment included a shaving brush with a screw off handle for just that purpose-the threads went backwards so trying to open it just tightened it.

Yup, these are spy brushes!! I always hope to find one which was not opened yet and I find some classified materials from the 40's....:lol:
 
Look at the underside of these brushes.
Not exactly a beautiful work of art, just ugly unfinished swirls of brush epoxy.
Whatever the purpose of the screw off handle, I don't think it was as a storage area, just too unfinished for that.

I have to agree with Phil here.

Yup, these are spy brushes!! I always hope to find one which was not opened yet and I find some classified materials from the 40's....:lol:

:001_huh: :lol::lol::lol:
 
I think your answer is about production costs. Catalin is more expensive than rubber so they had used screw design. Although unscrewability has a purpose which is like to buy a new one.
 
Top Bottom