Shaving Collectibles
About
The National Shaving Mug Collectors Association is a non-profit educational organization dedicated to the collection and preservation of barber shop memorabilia and to the promotion of the concept that he local barber shop played a significant social role in American culture.


Dues are $35 per year and include our quarterly newsletter - Barber Shop Collectibles, membership directory, and access to the "Members Only" section of our NSMCA.net website. Dues may be paid by check/money order payable to NSMCA and mailed to the Treasurer.


We are more than collectors of shaving mugs. Although when 14 of us met at Jim and Miriam Carpenter’s home in the summer of 1980, our purpose was to start a club for local shaving mug collectors.


Since then NSMCA has expanded in size and interest, so we now have a much broader membership from 40 states and 3 continents and expanded field of interest. Our members usually collect more than just shaving mugs, today almost 30 years later; our members also collect things like, straight razors, barber bottles, barber furniture, barber poles, barber supply catalogs and advertising, barber surgeons bowls, razor blade banks, razor blade sharpeners, razor blades and other barbershop and shaving memorabilia.


We have two national NSMCA meetings per year at which time we buy, trade, and sell barbershop memorabilia. The meetings are held on a Friday/Saturday and include a general meeting, luncheon, speakers, and a lot of camaraderie. In additional, our Board of Directors recently authorized additional regional and specialty meetings as appropriate.


If you are an NSMCA member, you may place a 30-word classified ad in the newsletter for a fee. Please contact Mike Griffin, newsletter editor, for details. His number is in the directory.

More about NSMCA


The prevalence of collecting in a society is one guarantee of its preservation. The collector is the guardian of the past and present.

  • We are historians of the period 1865 thru 1920

  • We are more than collectors of shaving mugs; we also collect:


    • Barber Bottles; Straight Razors; Safety Razors; Barber Poles

    • Barber Furniture (chairs, back bars); Barbershop Photos; Spittoons

    • Barber Brushes; Barber Poems; Barber Signs

    • Barber related Ephemera and much, much more.


  • We range in expertise from beginner to expert, who all shares a love for this era.

  • We are a friendly and fun-loving group of folks.

  • We provide educational opportunities in our areas of expertise.

  • We are authors: More than 20 of our members have written books or articles that have become classics in this field of collecting.


"We Are More"


Welcome to the world of The National Shaving Mug Collectors Association. In addition to many kinds of shaving mugs, we also collect:

  • barber bottles

  • barber poles

  • barber photos

  • advertising signs

  • supply catalogs

  • blade bowls

  • straight & safety razors

  • barber furniture

  • surgeon's bowls

  • spittoons

  • razors

  • other barber memorabilia


Our primary task is to collect, preserve and organize barber information, and educate our members on all aspects of Barbering and the Barber Shop as a special American phenomenon. More than half of our members have authored books and articles on the above topics and, in the club's library, we have over 250 books and/or articles, some dating back more than 70+ years, on all aspects of Barber Antiques and Collectibles. These are available to our members. We now exist in 40 states and 4 countries, bringing collectors together, encouraging collectors new & advanced, and striving to build a tradition of collecting Barber Memorabilia.

E-Bay


We all love E-Bay and many members are frequent users of this relatively new tool. They buy and sell barbering collectibles – shaving mugs, razors, and barber bottles on Ebay. Be sure to look for those on-line dealers that that identify themselves as NSMCA members in their offerings with a simply statement, like “Seller is a member of the National Shaving Mug Collectors Association (NSMCA). For addition information on this item or NSMCA, please contact the Seller.” You can depend on them to follow the NSMCA Code of Ethics and can answering any related questions you may have.

Membership



  • We are looking for members from around the USA and the world who have an interest in Barber Shaving Collectibles & Antiques.

  • What does NSMCA get you?


    • We have two national semi-annual meetings, plus other regional and specialty meeting.

    • You will receive our regular Barbershop Collectibles Newsletters.

    • You will receive a directory of members with collecting interests and contact information of each Member.

    • You will have access to our Bibliography of 250 articles covering Barber Collectibles, written over the last 70 years from articles and antiques dating over 100 years old! (It’s on-line in the Members’ Only section of this website.

    • You will join a friendly, fascinating folks who share common interests and who willingly share their knowledge & expertise.



Want To Join?


You will be most welcomed. Join Us.