Mustache Cups

Not garden related:

Winter has came back with a vengeance here in the hills. With raw high winds and a couple more inches of snow making it miserable outside. I am going off the gardening topic today because I just do not have anything. LOL! More seeds were sowed but other than that we have hunkered down indoors where it is  warm.

My Grandma Eveland gave me several antique items that she owned. She knew I loved old pieces and family heirlooms even before her passing and before I became a genealogy researcher.These items are all precious to me even more so since I am growing older. Most of the items she gave me are not worth much in monetary value but because they were items from the lives of relatives that are now long gone makes them worth more than money to me.
One of the items is a mustache cup that belonged to my great-great uncle Samuel Eveland. Sam was born in 1855 and died in 1938 before I was born but my Grandpa Eveland’s (Doc) resemblance to him is so similar. They were both short, feisty and wiry men.
Sam sported a fantastic mustache so a mustache cup was just the thing to keep that mustache clean while drinking that strong black coffee with a touch of milk in it.

Samuel Eveland 1855-1938
Since most of the pictures of him are sporting bib overalls that the farmers wore back then there must have been a special occasion for him to be donning a suit. LOL!

 
For the younger generation who may not have saw one before, a mustache cup is a drinking cup with a semi circular ledge inside.
The semi circular edge has a hole in it that allowed the fluid to pass through. So while drinking the mustache cup guard keeps the mustache dry and does not get into the liquid.

It is thought that mustache cups were invented in 1860 by Harvey Adams a British potter. It came from a need for all of those waxed and dyed mustaches in Victorian days so they would not melt dripping wax and dye into the liquid. Tales of women swooning over such a horrible sight could not be allowed and an answer had to be found. I find it hard to believe that women were so wimpy back then and think it made for a great show instead. LOL!
Such fragile gentle creatures. We have come a long way baby!

Since most mustache cups were sold with saucers if this one had a saucer it has met its demise. Mustache cups were made in all sizes from the dainty to steins. Women loved the idea of gifting there men with them with personalized messages such as “Forget Me Not” or “Love the Giver”. Sets of His and Hers cups soon followed with “Husband” and “Wife” written on them. Mustache cups were even taken along on travels and were frequently chipped, cracked or lost along the way. But adventurous Americans came to the rescue with mustache guards made of silver and tin that could be carried in a pocket and could be quickly attached to a regular cup.
Looking at some of the fellows sporting mustaches today I wonder if a mustache cup wouldn’t be a great gift for some of them now. LOL! Today many reproductions are being made of them so if you are looking for the antique ones it is “buyer be ware”.

With the miserable weather outside the feeders are being over run with birds that are welcoming and pigging out on sunflower seeds. The crows are trying to find a way to get to them but their frustration they are a little large for the feeders. When they appear all of the other birds take off to the trees and then come back flocking after the crows give up.

Everyone Stay Safe,
Lona

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