Object Spotlight: Washington’s Shaving Gear
George Washington was no Abraham Lincoln when it came to beards. A bristly face wasn’t fashionable in the 18th century and Washington isn’t known to have ever adopted whiskers.
The General kept his face stubble-free with the help of a few good tools: a razor, a comb, a strop, a whetstone, a shaving brush and box, and a traveling razor case. Gentlemen in the 18th century often traveled with compact razor cases and Washington is known to have ordered several throughout his lifetime.
Although the belongings featured here originally came from different cases, they represent an excellent cross-section of what Washington would have carried. The 18th-century man’s shaving routine was more or less the same as today’s, with similar but slightly different tools, reflecting their nondisposable nature.
One of the most interesting of these was a whetstone, a natural stone held in a wooden frame that was wetted with oil or water and used to sharpen a razor by drawing each side of the blade across it repeatedly, so that the razor never became dull and unusable. A similar instrument was the strop, which was made of leather and used to “set” or maintain the edge of a blade by drawing the razor repeatedly over it. Razors lacked all of the plastic and safety mechanisms that they have today and were simply a sharp blade on the end of a handle, which could make shaving a little tricky. This was made easier with the help of a shaving brush, a tool that was introduced in the mid-18th century and allowed users to apply ample lather to their face; Washington’s appears to be made of badger bristles.
Some of Washington’s most stubbly life moments, when we can only imagine he might not have had a razor available, may have come during his exploits as a young man, both on his way home from the Ohio Territory in the winter of 1753-1754, when he and his travel guide were fleeing Indians, and after Fort Necessity, when it is known that he lost his luggage. No doubt he was clean-shaven again as soon as possible.
But just like Washington’s face, his shaving implements need a good touch-up from time to time, which they got from conservators last year. There had previously been breaks along the corners of the case and tarnish on its silver buckle, the box that held the shaving brush had lost one of its sides, and the shaving brush was missing its handle.
Conservators were able to fix or patch up these problems: Bridges were placed over the breaks in the case and inpainted to match. The buckle was polished with a calcium carbonate slurry, and a new side for the brush box was fabricated out of matte board and painted to match. The shaving brush got a new handle made of epoxy and was painted to look like a dark wood, which was designed in part by studying other historic shaving brushes. Research revealed that the strop, which had a black material on one side and a red on the other, took on these colors because of an abrasive paste used to help sharpen the razor blade.
Conservators have these items in such good shape that it’s hard to know what looks better after a good cleaning: Washington or his shaving case?
Object Spotlight is a regular feature on George Washington Wired that highlights some of the household belongings that Washington came into contact with. Project conservator Anne Kingery and conservator Katherine Ridgway contributed to this report. Washington’s shaving gear is presently being kept in storage. Check out Mount Vernon’s eMuseum to find more of Washington’s belongings.
Shaving kit: Purchase, 1951 [W-1598/A-G]
September 3rd, 2011 at 4:34 pm
Hi,
Was researching the web about George Washington’s shaving mug and I came across your site. Do you know anything about Washington having a shaving mug besides his razor, brush and kit? If so, what was it made of? Appreciate any information you may have.
Thanks,
Chris