You're right. The one article I looked at misstated that badger brushes were the cause. Horsehair was indeed the culprit.
I read on a forum that badger and boar replaced horsehair in brushes in response to anthrax concerns. That could be wrong, though, since badgers and swine can contract anthrax. Then again, the incidence in the latter two animals might have been much lower than in horses. Horse brushes were definitely part of the World War I and 1920s era anthrax scare, as described in this post on Bruce Everiss' excellent Bruce On Shaving blog. The medical journals he cites are vetted, printed sources. One article also states that horsehair was dyed to imitate badger hair. That means both hair types were in use simultaneously, yet badger hair brushes are not mentioned as disease vectors. Pages 52- 53 of Anthrax - A History (ISBN-10 0-7864-1891-5) notes that Japanese badger hair brushes were blamed for cases of anthrax. A paper published in the Wisconsin Medical Journal regarding anthrax contracted from a badger shaving brush is also referenced. The book further notes that anthrax cases due to shaving brushes were reported as late as 1939. The "Sterilized" imprints on vintage shaving brushes make a lot of sense in that context. I wonder if they were also affected by the anthrax problem, or if it was localized to shaving brushes in particular regions of the globe. Do you know if the void in the center of horsehair brushes specific to Vie Long, or is it a more generalized characteristic of horsehair brushes?
Correct. It is boar. The tips split on them and that is the dead giveaway. My horse hair brushes have never split at the tips and my boar brushes always have split at the tips.
Hollow voids in the center are a characteristic of horsehair brushes around the world. The only horsehair brushes with filled centers are for the American market, because consumers demanded them. The filled centers led to tangling issues on the early manufactured brushes, but the problem seems to have been sorted out by a cooperative effort by both the manufacturers and the wet shaving community.
Do you know which of these brushes have the filled centers and who sells them? It 's time to take ol' Seabiscut for a ride throught the lather.
I think Frank's. I'm not 100% sure though. I know that the seller also has the hollow center brushes as well. Refer to the brush wiki for the correct loft to request. This will help avoid the tangling issue. Hopefully a horsehair brush fan will come in here and correct me if I'm wrong.
I use a bestshave #6 Turkish horse hair brush, I've used it daily for around 2 years now, I love it!!! I don't remember it as having a strong odor and in any case any odor is long gone at this point...I also own a couple of Vie-Longs, but I prefer the #6 over the Vie-Longs and I can't see myself changing brushes anytime in the near future...The specs on it are 25mm dia and 50mm loft. It has "GREAT" backbone and is still "VERY" comfortable to use.. I have questions however...I always thought hair(any hair) split at the tips only? I've never seen any info indicating that horse hair brushes only use the tips of the hair shaft. Since horse hair is considerably longer than either bagger or boar it would seem more of the horse hair shafts would be used and so you would be less likely to get a horse brush made entirely out of just the tips and so the brush would be less likely to split or split so you would notice it....Does that theory sound correct? Also it is my understanding that the voids that occur in horse hair brushes are normal and are there to help avoid the hair knotting..My #6 has "NEVER" knotted, I use it with both a circular and a painting motion... I bowl lather which requires using a circular motion to make lather in the bowl and I have never had a problem with hair tangling.. It easily makes enough lather for 3+ passes from a puck of soap.. I've heard that the #6 is made of boar and not horse also...Why would a Turkish vender in a predominately muslim country, sell a boar brush as horse? It seems horse(is raising pig common in Turkey?) would be easier to procur and cheaper than boar for one thing and from what I hear those muslims are VERY picky about being exposed to pig..With all the jihad BS going on over there it would seem dangerous to substitute boar for anything and claim it was something else..Seems that could get you killed!!! I've also always wondered "HOW" in a time period where horses and other hoof type animals were everywhere, do they know "FOR A FACT" that the people who died of anthrax during this period contracted the disease from a shaving brush?? As has been said other animals get and can pass on anthrax..Why pick on horse's, except horse hair brushes were predominate and the powers that be at the time needed to lay blame on something, so why not horse..Cars were beginning to come out also and I so I seriously wonder if that had anything to do with anything.. All I can say is if you've never tried a #6 horse hair brush consider giving give one a try..I don't think you'll regret it...For the price it's a great deal and if you don't like it you can always PIF it to me...
I agree with the above. Even touching an American football (made of pigskin) defiles a Muslim. As for the anthrax, they were able to examine the brush under microscopes and see the anthrax bacteria. That has been pretty well documented. The open center on traditional horsehair brushes is there to prevent tangling. It does not appeal to Western (American) tastes, so fully stuffed brushes are made. Got to satisfy demand, even if it doesn't make sense.
From the '80s the serve whisky as tea to the foreigners who work there Usually the weekend those people "get sick" at night and go to specific hospitals only for "treatment" When it's time for money some people "can not see good" Remember from the past "Midnight Express" and their recently willingness to get into the EU.
Just so I'm clear the void in the center of horse hair are only apparent when the brush is wet with soap and water, not when it's dry..Correct? I see what your saying about how they saw the anthrax on the horse hair brushes they examined, I'll buy that...
It goes both ways. When a hollow center brush is dry, you can spread the tips and see the hole in the center. It's not obvious at first glance. The filled center brushes also have something that could be called a "void." When they get wet, they tend to splay out, leaving the center of the brush exposed.
GD, I expected better from you. A cursory search turns up the fact that horse's mane and tail hair gets split ends, so it would follow that the brushes could get split ends just like boar brushes. I've even seen old badger brushes with split ends.
I have a boar brush from the shaving factory that is exactly the same knot wise and hair wise as the Number 6. If you hold the hairs next to each other you cannot tell the difference between them. Boar hair is thicker and the tips have splits that are much more prominent than thinner horse hair or badger hair. The split sections on my Number 6 are as thick as the unsplit hairs of my Vie Long. Over on the UK forum and others, Turkish members have discussed that the "Horse" hairs are mismarked boars. One went to say, "Horse hair is not popular in Turkey due to its cost and scarcity." I have also inquired of another member of another US board that is Turkish and he confirms the same thing. So I have visual, feel, size, large split hairs and experience traditional shavers from Turkey that all point to boar.
I'm of the opinion the Bestshave #6 is actually boar. This was after researching it a bit on the internet and comparing it to my Vie Long brush and Omega boar brush. This is only my opinion, and I'm not saying Bestshave is being deceptive, since I don't know where they are getting the brushes or what they are told.
Boar absorbs water, horsehair holds it in suspension. Surely there must be some way to tell the difference?
You win. I'll concede. The #6 brush is almost certainly boar. I updated the brush sticky with that information as well.
