Rubberset - sample display of hair types

I'm excited that this will be in my hands shortly. Its from the Canadian branch of Rubberset back in the day.

 

Very nice. A piece of history for sure. Do you suppose it was a traveling salesman's kit?

 

That's pretty cool Where did you find it?

 

Yes, that would make the most sense. It does seem to be made to be more portable than stationary.

 

It popped up on eBay with a buy-it-now. I couldn't resist.

 

I doubt I could have resisted had I seen it. Good catch!!

 

Really interesting find and it should give some insight on how they sorted & graded hair back in the day.
I wonder how that ox ear hair compares to silvertip

 

It's going to go up next to my other Rubberset display. I'm stoked. Love the history of this stuff.

 

Yeah, ox ear hair. Umm... not sure what the sales pitch would have been on that one.

 

Very cool!

 

More to the point, where can one go today for a good ox ear hair brush?

 

"Good Ox Ear Hair Brush." It doesn't exactly roll off the tongue does it?

 

No, probably not, but it just sounds so completely exotic and unique.

 

Guess I will go over to the barn yard, trim some cattle's ear hair and make a knot....

 

Pretty cool!

 

Interesting... it looks like Ox hair is used a lot for paint brushes. Quoting from dickblick.com:

The best quality comes from the ears of cattle or oxen. The Ox Hair has a very strong body with silken texture, is very resilient, has good "snap", but lacks a fine tip. Therefore, it is most useful in medium gradewash brushes, or flat shaped brushes. Frequently, ox hair is blended with other natural hair to increase the resiliency of a brush.​

 

Last time I visited my Texan aunt's ranch I gathered horse tail hair. I wonder how the cows will feel about getting an ear hair trim...

 

That is an interesting factoid. I did not know that.