Between 1865 and 1920, owning a personalized shaving mug was the order of the day, and the 'OCCUPATIONALS' were the most prestigious. The majority of men having occupational mugs would often frequent the barber shop several times a week, where their mugs were clearly visible for all to see in the barber's rack. As a matter of fact, this display was in many ways the index of the individual town or neighborhood. The popularity of the occupational shaving mug diminished with the advent of world war I and the introduction by Gillette of the safety razor.
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WE ARE NOT SURE WHEN THE TERM "YARD-LONG" CAME INTO BEING, BUT IT IS A VERY APPRORIATE TERM FOR THIS BEAUTIFUL ART FORM. WE ASSUME THE LONG VERTICAL LENGTH AND THE NARROW WIDTH WERE THE MAJOR FACTORS IN THEIR BEING SO NAMED. THE OPPOSITE WOULD BE TRUE OF THE ANIMAL AND FLOWER PRINTS, AS THEY WERE MEANT TO BE HUNG HORIZONTALLY.
A dowry (also known as trousseau or torcher ) is the money, goods, or estate that a woman brings to her soon to be husband in marriage. This solid cherry highly carved vanity was part of a Chinese dowry in the 1920s
Between 1865 and 1920, owning a personalized shaving mug was the order of the day, and the 'OCCUPATIONALS' were the most prestigious. The majority of men having occupational mugs would often frequent the barber shop several times a week, where their mugs were clearly visible for all to see in the barber's rack. As a matter of fact, this display was in many ways the index of the individual town or neighborhood. The popularity of the occupational shaving mug diminished with the advent of world war I and the introduction by Gillette of the safety razor. 
