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Old SpiceŽ is a registered trademark of Procter and Gamble. All content on this web site is copyrighted by the web owner. Recently recognized by Collectors Weekly in the best collector Hall of Fame! |
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 After Shave bottle was developed the same way, starting with wooden models turned on a lathe at the Hull Pottery Company. The wood models were used to shape the molds for pottery production. The photo below shows the evolution of the After Shave Lotion bottle.
1935-1937 Two Wooden After Shave Bottle Models and a Sample from Hull Pottery
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. By the 1970s, the containers were made of plastic in the more traditional shapes. 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 specialty containers 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. |