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Random Find: Saddle Club Shaving Soap by Wrisley

I randomly found this at a novelty/antique shop in my community. I've done some research and really didn't find much information on it than either being a Yardley knock-off or a production from them. Either way, it doesn't smell much but during my warm drive back home I started to get a vintage Williamesque vintage Colgate type scent. I'm assuming it's full of tallow goodness. I'm going to give it a few good swipes to clean it and a good brushing to "activate" it.
Does anyone know much about it and its origin?

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Cant help you with any info, but i am curious now that you have brought a few things up,... when someone finds a vintage soap, is there a specific prep work you need to do to get it all going again ? is the cleaning to clear off anything it just may have picked up on top over the years,... or just to rid any previous users left overs ?,
 
From what I've heard, if the soap doesn't smell rotten or turned a green color it seem fine to use. It makes sense to scrub a layer off of the old soap to remove dust and other things in the atmosphere. Most pathogens don't last very long in the open.
 
As a soap maker the Wrisley name goes back to turn of the last century Chicago. The Saddle Club brand seems to be roughly 1939-1950 or so, and they also did a Spruce soap. http://books.google.com/books?id=oVQEAAAAMBAJ&lpg=PA118&pg=PA118#v=onepage&q&f=true shows a full-page ad for a similar-looking bowl in Life, 3 Dec 1951 (be sure to scroll up to p61, where a youngish Ronnie Reagan is shilling for Chesterfield cigarettes - and there is a Schick electric razor ad on p29).
 

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Wow! Thanks for the info Mblake. It's pretty old then. I thought it was English! Fun read too. I love the old advertisements, not PC by today's standards.
Not one single case of throat irritation due to smoking Camels!
 
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I lathered it up last night. It has no smell but a woodsy scent (not fragrance) from the bowl it's in. It created some thick lather full of tallow goodness. However, I couldn't stand the non-scent and during my last 2 passes I put a small amount of Erasmic to give it some fragrance. It was pretty nice........

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I have that exact same bowl and puck. I think I bought it here maybe off Phog Allen. It is nice! No smell but decent and good shaving soap.
 
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