Today, I went to Warm Springs, GA, to visit the Little White House. For those who may not know, President Roosevelt had polio and went to the springs in Warm Springs to help with his polio. He claimed the water from the springs made his polio better. He had a house built there where he lived and conducted business when in Warm Springs. FDR died at this house and it is still in the same state that it was in when he died. The also have a museum set up that tells all about him. One of the items in the museum was his shaving brush. You would think that a president could afford a brush that wasn't quite so worn out. You can't tell it from this picture, but the brush is very small. It's about the size of my Omega Travel Brush.
Thanks for posting this. The majority of shaving brushes were smaller during that time because demand for both Boar and Badger for brushes of all kinds (cosmetic, shaving, painting, utility) was high because there were not a lot of substitutes. That was before nylon fibers freed up some of the demand issues in the 1950s and forward. During the Great Depression people used things until they wore out and during the Second World War Boar and Badger hairs and brush making as a whole was turned to war production. Civilian production was eliminated because the hairs were too valuable to manufacture cleaning products for military equipment. As a part of my Synthetic brush research I came across a book that went into great detail about the diversion of all brush making and the special war orders and office that was created to control this vital set of resources. So even the president would have been using his brush past its normal life span not just to set and example for the public but because shaving brushes were not being heavily produced, and what was being produced went into the hand of soldiers going overseas. This brush shares a configuration with a brush that I restored on the thread below. In fact it is a slightly more streamlined (less expensive) brush than the one in the thread below. http://theshaveden.com/forums/threads/1920-1930s-rubberset-restore.34186/
I have a friend in his 70s that has a razor rotation of his Dad's and Uncle's two Gillettes. My parents gave me a Samsonite suit case as a graduation gift. I've used it for business travel my entire career. We've both used only these as adults. It's a way pay tribute and see if they can out last us.
Thanks for the history lesson. That explains a lot. I never really thought about the Great Depression affecting the POTUS, but I guess it did. You did a nice job of restoring that brush. It looks fantastic.
With tax time here and just being a cynical person. I'd have to say that someone borrowed the brush from FDR, used it, and the family just 'donated' it back for a large write off. Bet ya.
While I can appreciate your cynicism, I don't believe that to be the case here. This was just one item in a collection of FDR's personal grooming instruments. Sadly, his razor was not there. Some of the displays had prominent signs with the name of the donor for artifacts that were donated. However, there weren't very many that were donated. This particular collection did not gave any such sign, so I'm sure it never belonged to anyone else.
I think my cynicism comes from memories of going through his home at Hyde Park, New York For some reason he dropped in my appreciation after the visit.
