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Discover Mid-America — March 2005

Cups II

A while back, I wrote about cups (Discover Mid-America, Jan. ’05). Interestingly enough, this made me start taking a closer look at any cup-like piece. I really had not realized just how many styles of cups are in the marketplace. My favorites, of course, are antique or very old items. So my observations have brought a new awareness of liquid holding containers...

Recently, on a trip to Texas, my sister and I went to a Sunday morning flea market. Knowing that we would have to plow through a great deal of junk, we went prepared to do just that. She and I separated, and I started plundering through rain-filled, dirty and dusty things. A man had some of these “things” on a flatbed trailer and I decided to take a closer look, as there was a good-looking porcelain coffeepot at the front. I was disappointed to find that it had no lid, the spout had a chip and he wanted $25 for it. Even though I was unhappy at that, I kept looking and found a box half-full of cups.

The box held some quite interesting cups. There was the usual medium-sized rose transfer with MAMA on it; there was one with a really nice transfer of a deer. But the one that really that really got my eye was one that had HUSBAND on it. Never having seen that before, I was ready to buy it until he said $20. For that price I started to give it a very close examination. It was not just a coffee cup but also a mustache cup with the barrier broken off. He was giving me a spiel on the rarity of mustache cups and it irritated me as the cup may have been a mustache cup, but the wholeness was gone!

For readers who are not familiar with this type of cup, they were in use in the 1800s and into the 1900s. As men were fond of bushy mustaches, they found that it was a nuisance to have to blot the drink that attached itself to their upper lips. Some clever manufacturer designed cups that had a span of china from one side of the cup to the other, attaching it so either a right-handed or left-handed gentleman could keep a fairly dry mustache. The span was sometimes plain, sometimes with a bit of scallop. This worked quite well in keeping the gentleman’s whiskers semi-dry. I cannot figure out how this span got broken out on the cup I found without marring the cup itself.

Another cup that is quite collectible is not the drinking cup, but a larger mug that was for shaving soap and brush. These are usually more along the line of our present day coffee mugs. Because they got heavy wear from being used every day, many have damage of some sort. The materials used for these can be heavy porcelain or china, hard rubber and even in Rockingham type crockery (this is dark brown with yellow streaks glazed stoneware). The handle loop is usually large enough to accommodate a man’s index finger.

The most collectible shaving mugs are the personalized ones. These not only have the gentleman’s name, but artwork that indicates the person’s profession. These are highly prized. Those lucky enough to see a good collection have seen old fire wagons, doctor’s equipment, beautiful ships and spiffy old cars. In the old days, when men went daily to their barbers for a morning shave, their shaving mugs were waiting for them. An open cabinet that had cubbyholes for each man’s mug was standard for any barbershop.

The collection I have, surprisingly, has a number of shaving mugs that have floral décor. My granddaughters have always been curious that a masculine item has such a feminine look.

As my father always used the old Williams shaving soap and a brush, I had a friend, who was a china painter, paint a mug for him. Being from a ranching family, I chose to have a Texas windmill and “water tank” on the shaving mug along with his initials in gold. He told me that he always took great pleasure in having a mug so personal, so instead of using it for shaving, my father just put it on his desk and put pencils in it!

One thing to remember: There are lots of imitations in the marketplace. Hold up the cup or mug to the light for the telltale dots of a newer transfer.

Norma Crews is a native Texan, graduate of Texas Tech, former teacher and rancher, mother of three grown sons and six grandchildren, and raised in South Texas on a ranch as a member of two pioneer families.

Upon retiring from teaching and ranching, she and her husband James became pickers for large Texas shops, before branching into doing shows for a number of years in Missouri, Oklahoma and Texas. She currently resides in Neosho, MO.

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