A couple of vintage shave sticks.

[Buzzardstubble]

I found these two vintage shave sticks in a shop the other day and thought you shave stick fans might be interested in seeing them. I have seen the Dubarry stick once before but never the Gibbs stick, which also came with a refill. I have shaved with the Gibbs stick and it performs really well, the lather is great and it smells like old tallow soap (the Dubarry smells the same). Does anyone have any information about either of these sticks? The Gibbs stick has "D & W Gibbs Ltd, London, England" written on it but the Dubarry just says "Made In England".

 

[mblakele]

Nice! Are you planning to shave with either? Does that Gibbs refill fit in the holder? The holder looks smaller, but maybe I am not seeing how it works.

Those are both new to me, although I have a Gibbs that is probably older. Gibbs also made razors, I think.

Here are some shots of my vintage shave stick holders: Erasmic, Palmolive (with modern soap), Williams, and Opal:

 

[xillion]

Great sticks fellas.

Here are my two Erasmic tins.

 

[Buzzardstubble]

Those vintage sticks are awesome! Yeah I have already shaved with the Gibbs stick, I might have one go with the Dubarry and then pass it on for other people to try. The refill does go into the holder, the stick in the holder now was the same size as the refill but unfortunately it broke off when I took the cap off for the first time. Once the current stick in the Gibbs holder is empty it says to just push the new one through the bottom until a quarter inch sticks out of the top

 

[mblakele]

Great sticks fellas.

Here are my two Erasmic tins.

Is that a "By Appointment" seal on the left-hand lid? I keep thinking we ought to be able to link those to date ranges.

 

[Luc]

Nice score! You should use them!

 

[xillion]

Is that a "By Appointment" seal on the left-hand lid? I keep thinking we ought to be able to link those to date ranges.

Yes it is. Here is a quick phone cam closeup.

 

[mblakele]

Thanks. Hmm... I was hoping it would say which monarch. I understand the warrant expires five years after the death of the grantor, or until canceled, so that could be a useful clue.

I believe Erasmic received its first warrant ca. September 1905 from Edward VII (http://books.google.com/books?id=jZ4AAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA334) who died in May 1910. I have seen a tin on ebay claiming another from George V. Anyone up on British monarchial arms? That lid looks much like the monarchial arms I see at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Coat_of_Arms_of_the_United_Kingdom_(1837-1952).svg, but I gather it could apply to either George V or Edward VII.

Here is the lid from mine, which does not display a warrant: