Vintage Williams tonsorial shaving soap

[dcrosso]

I went over to Montana on a business trip and stopped at a thrift shop looking for shaving gear. I found two Gillette razors, a standard SS and a W2 (1951) SS. I asked if the owner had any shaving mugs or brushes. She said no, but I have a roll of shaving soap. She pulled out a vintage (?) roll, containing 8 cakes, of Williams Tonsorial shaving soap. I offered her $10 for the razors and the Williams and she agreed to sell for the offer.

Out in my car I looked over the roll and read on the wrapper, "distributed by The J.B. Williams Company,inc. Toiletries Division, Cranford, N. J. 07016. There was no readily discernable date on the wrapper. There was a code stamped (B2562) on the wrapper. There is no bar code on the wrapper.

The soap cakes are a light brown color and smell like Ivory soap.

The ingredients:Tallow, Steric Acid, water, Coconut oil, Sodium Hydroxide, Potassium Hydroxide, Fragrance, Titanium Dioxide, Isopropl Cresols.

Is this the original tallow based shaving soap, or is it one of the later reformulated tallow based soaps?

I have heard the vintage Williams soaps are a very good soap. Is this the case with what I bought, or did I waste my money? I have a vintage Colgate soap that works very well. I hope the Williams works just as well. If it does not then I can always mix some Kiss My Face with it to make a super soap.

 

[Navig8tor]

You got 2 razors and 8 pucks of vintage Williams for $10?

That is a major find!

Vintage Williams is really good stuff, much better than the current formulation. When I am lucky enough to find it they are priced @ $2 or $3 a puck.

I think there is a wiki on Williams that will help you narrow down the time it was produced.

 

[michiganlover]

I have a puck of the Williams Tonsorial, and it is a great vintage soap.

I suspect that it dates from the late 1960's/ early 1970's since it has the Cranford, NJ address.

Note, that only the most recent 2005 version of Williams is a horrid product, I have tried the formulation just before the 2005, and while it was not as good as the 1970's (and before) soaps it is still a easy to lather respectable soap.

The roll of Vintage Tonsorial would have went for about $40 on Ebay ($5 per puck) so you got yourself an amazing deal!!

 

[TheVez2]

Williams tonsorial is from the 60s-70s I believe. If Tallow is the first ingredient, then it is definitely the good stuff. You got a great score, even if you don't count the razors. You got vintage Williams for cheaper than current Williams. Amazing! I sure would love to find some of that myself, always wanted to try it.

 

[HoosierTrooper]

Score! The vintage Williams is simply outstanding. I've managed to get four pucks and I know of an antique store that has one of the tonsorial pucks like you just found, I just haven't had a chance to get it yet.