The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-06-11
ART IN THE SHAVING CUP.
The Fashion Started by German on
the East side, New York.
From the New York Sun.

From the New York Sun.
over on the east side, where all sorts of
curious little shops flourish, one of the
most curious is a small store on the ground
floor of a tenement building, in the win
dow of which Is displayed conspicuously
sign bearing the inscription, in English
and German, High Art Decorations on
Shaving Cups" Examples of the high art
are ranged along under the sign, and ii
would be difficult to find anywhere a more
varied collection. On the curved surfaces
of the mugs are portraits, fancy heads,
flags coats-of-arms, busts of celebrities.
notices, comic pictures, quotations and
couplets of what is probably original verse,
besides a number of very ornate cups in
scribed with the initials Of the owners done
in text SO magnificent that it is quite i'm
possible to make out the letters. These
are only small portion of the stock
which the artist keep on hand and or
which he is very proud. He is an intelli-
gent little old fellow, whose pet maxim Is
that no man should be without his own
shaving mug and that there is no use In
his having one of his own unless 1t is so
decorated that there is no possibility OF
anybody elses getting hold of ii by mis-
take. The tales he tells of the dire re-
suits of such mistakes are enough to keep
man from ever entering barber show.
1t is easy, however to get him switched
off from this unpleasant topic to the ar
usuc side of bis work, and on that sub
ject he viii talk as long as there is any
one to listen.
In the old times" he says, ct was all
initial work. If a man came in and
wanted a cup decorated, all / had to do
was to find out his name or initials and
t,rIf hon ~
now it is all different, and I have brought
about the new fashion, for many years
ago I was the first 10 see that there was
room for art in this business. So | made
up few very fine cups and gave them 10
friends of mine who are big men over
here, politicians and brewers and LAWYERS
and men like that who start the fashions
in this part Of the city. and it took right
hold and now have all the work l want
and of kind that an artist is proud to
do. You go into any of the hrst-class
barber shops over here on the east side
now and you'll find the American flag on
some of the cups my work When the
war broke out it struck me that there
was the place for patriotism. right on a
mans shaving cup, so that when he went
to get shaved in the morning he'd have
something in front of him TO make him
think of his country. and l turned OUT a
dozen of those. 1t took like FIRE and after
that came all sorts of patriotic art.
THE Maine came in for lot OF notice,
and L got Dewey down so fine that | can
turn out his picture in no time. Mr.. Nc
Kinley. with Our President over his
head makes a very neat piece of work. All
the war heroes have come in for a share.
and you could find an art history of war
right on the shaving cups of this part of
the city is you went around There's
Roosevelt and Sampson and Schley and
Hobson and Wheeler and Lee, and an the
rest OF them. l had 10 get pictures Of all
of them to reproduce. One of the hardest
war jobs l did was the charge up San
Juan Hill by the rough riders. put nv
heart right into that and. | tell you. il
was too bad 10 dink of that staying in
a barber shop-it ought to be in a gallery
today. The only trouble was that the
curve of the cup fixed il so that you
eoldn't see all the charge az once, but I