Grandpas German Mug History

I have several German Mugs that are becoming a collection. It all started with Grandpas mug after he passed. I am nore interested is the history than the value. I think their called Motto mugs but one says Think of Me, one says Remember Me and one says Forget me Not.

I will post a pic of the mark on the mottom and the mug itself.

How old?
were they a set or just variations?
Since their so similar on size are the from the same company... ??
Any Ideas???

Bottom says Made in Germany and 19
Any ideas as to manufacture?
Some say their shaving mugs and Grandpa used it as a shaving mug, but I am thinking anything old that had a shaving brush stuck in it is now considered a shaving mug...

 

Welcome to the board. If you go back and use Full Image, your pictures will be large enough for people who use phones to be able to see them.

The one you are showing is German pre WWI. Often souvenirs.

Can't determine size. Some were shaving mugs, some just coffee cans, some demitasse. Size will be helpful.

 

That certainly appears to be a shaving mug.

Debora

 

I agree with cluttered. These are almost impossible to attribute to a specific manufacturer. Literally boatloads of these came over from Germany, either as souvenirs, as cluttered suggested, or for distribution as giftware in the US. They were inexpensive and made nice little gifts. The holly may indicate it was for the Christmas season. You may find multiples of any one mug but they rarely came in sets and were not part of a particular pattern line. We can't assume that two identical mugs were made by the same company. Sometimes the distributor would dictate the shape and commission whichever company would produce them cheapest. One year that might be one company and one year another. Value is not great in today's market. It's best value is as a family treasure.
Don

 

Germany was what China is today. cheap output. mass export.
normally the 19 could - but only could and often does especially by stein factories - the number of editions that were made of one model.

 

thanks so much for your replies... I am riposting some images, apologize for the previous small size... these are full size. Thanks for your help

 

may I ask please why you state that it looks like a shaving mug to you. what do you see that says shaving mug. I can not tell the difference between a shaving mug and coffee cup.

 

I agree 100%, it took me a lot of years to start thinking and appreciating the history behind some things... this is certainly a research mission... I appreciate all your information.

 

Because my mother, an antique collector, has acquired numerous shaving mugs over the years. We have many about the house and even donated one to our local historical museum.

Debora

 

Almost any mug can be a shaving mug but it should be more or less straight sided so that the shaving cream is easy to whip up evenly. A shaving mug should also be heavy so that it's difficult to knock over. Anyone that's shattered a piece of porcelain on tile can tell you what a mess it makes. You don't get a mug broken in two - you get a mug broken into a couple of big/medium pieces and hundreds of shards that go everywhere! They can't have sides that are too tall or the shaving brush can't reach the bottom. Short and a bit wide work best. And, or course, the age matters. Once men started using shaving cream out of a tube and then shaving cream out of a can mugs were retired to the china cabinet or the kitchen.

I have a shaving mug that was my great grandfather's. It used to sit on a shelf at the barber's (another option). I'm told he was upset because he ordered it himself and it came misspelled. He never got a corrected version though.
Don

 

Hi,
I always thought that the top 2 inches of the shaving mugs were blank so a man might have his name stenciled there. Since most shaving mugs were in the barber shop they could tell whose was whose. My grandfathers shaving mug was sterling silver made by the Gorham company. I always wondered how a poor back woods farmer had such a wonderful item. Found out years later that his social club gave it to him for a wedding present. it seems that one side of the family was very well off.
It explained why there was a few valuable items in the old farm house. When my grandparents got married in 1911 they bought a 200 year old house and 2 thousand acres for 300 dollars. The farm land was all bought and turned into a sizable housing development. Unfortunately the house was torn down in the 1960s. It was 327 years old.
greg

 

It's the shape.

However coffee cans of this type of ware, were the same shape.
We need to know the size in order to determine which it is.

Adding shaving mugs are much larger.

 

should I measure it and post that information or can it be determined from the pictures I reposted

 

Yes
Height and diameter