Along with shaving mugs and shaving soap for men, Shulton also made toiletries: after shave talc, after shave lotion and cologne for men.  (Shulton also had a broad line of toiletries for women.)  Men's toiletries were sold in distinctive containers that generally matched the mugs in style and appearance. The talcum container has always been distinguished from the after shave and the cologne by its shorter taper at the top.

The original design for the Old Spice bottle came from this antique apothecary bottle now in the Procter and Gamble archives.  

Based on this inspiration, The Hull Pottery Company developed several sample bottles out of wood, complete with hand painted designs shown here, also in the Procter and Gamble archives.

1935-1937 Two Wooden After Shave Bottle Models and a Sample from Hull Pottery

1938 Experimental Bottle from Hull, Never Used.

Around 1948, the containers' appearances differentiated the product they contained. The Ship Mt. Vernon first appeared on the talcum container at this time and has remained there ever since. It is the only ship to appear sailing to the right! The Ship Recovery also appeared on the After Shave container about this time. Ship Recovery and Ship Grand Turk were used on both after shave and cologne for the next several years. These earliest containers all had metal stoppers. The containers also changed to a milky glass similar to the mugs. These are quite faded today.  Also, the "p" in the word "Spice" has an open loop in the first glass bottles. By the mid 1950s, the loop in the "P" in Spice became closed.

In 1953, travel size containers became available. They were small and rectangular, holding 1 - 3/8 ounces of talc and approximately 2 ounces of liquid. These containers were made of glass with first a metal cap followed by a plastic screw top.   In the early 1960s plastic was used to make travel containers of Old Spice products.

In 1956, the containers took on a new appearance. The unique silhouette of each ship remained on the front, but without their names below. Instead, the words "Old Spice" in script appeared beneath each ship. The Ship Recovery is on the Cologne; the Ship Grand Turk is on the After Shave; and the Mt. Vernon adorns the Talcum. The contents of each container (After Shave Talcum, After Shave Lotion, Cologne For Men) appeared below the words "Old Spice." Also about this time, the plastic stopper was introduced.

Around 1959, a larger container of after shave and cologne were produced. Up until this time, the liquid products were 4.75 ounces, and the talcum was 3 ounces. A larger bottle of cologne and after shave became available - 9.5 ounces. Around 1967, the cologne bottle dropped the words "For Men."

By the early 1970s, the volume of the containers was added to the front below the words "Cologne," "After Shave Lotion" or "After Shave Talcum."

After Shulton was sold to American Cyanamid in 1972, and continuing through the 1980s, a number of Novelty Bottles were produced.  These products were produced and distributed solely by Shulton.  Contrary to some conventional wisdom, Avon Products was not involved in the sale of Old Spice products.

In 1981 and through the 1990s, the Cologne product was "re-branded" as "Long Lasting Cologne."

The table below shows how the volumes changed over the years and may be an aid to dating bottles.