Swedish Sea Salt Soap is the Seashore

NYC is lousy with old pharmacies crammed to the squeaking gunwales with Pakistan toothpaste, Greek banana shampoo and soap from all over the world.  Sometimes you hit the lotto and sometimes you don't.  Banana shampoo sounds great but not so much...

I thought I was buying a Swedish soap.  It was only $6 and the packaging lured me in -- Unlike the banana shampoo which I can still smell when I'm trying to sleep at night.  Sea Salt Soap is made in Rhode Island  by Kala (website here) and they designed the packaging as well. 

It's amazing stuff.  First, you get a huge smell of ocean.  Not screwed up with tacky scents but pure, clean, honest to God ocean.  This stuff turns a shower into an early morning swim in the buff. Or, my favorite, a midnight ocean swim in the buff -- but that's another story. It's gritty, so you get the luffa effect, but not at all rough. Actually, and I don't believe I'm gonna say this,  you'll feel softer afterwards. Not a bad thing if you have a lotta scar tissue; physical and mental.   

You can also shave with this stuff and that's the best part.  Take your razor into the shower, try not to drop it on your foot and lather the cake between your hands.  No need for a brush.  Slather the stuff on your face and if you get some in your mouth - all the better.  It'll taste like the sea. You don't even need a mirror. Just shave by feel but wait to trim your sideburns in front of a mirror. 

So...what's not to like?  Affordable. Made in the US.  Crazy cool packaging.  And it comes with an ersatz ocean.  A cake lasts about a month.  That includes shaves as well.  That does not include the midnight ocean swim in the buff although, I can't see why one or two people couldn't fake it.

Capsule: Autumn Winter 2012

In a sea of hi water-turned up denim, Red Wing work boots, black beards and more watch caps than there are in the U.S. Navy -- beneath all the pretentious bullshit -- there's... money to be made.



This is a trade show. No different than the Metal Fabricators in Chicago or General Aviation in Orlando. While a 200 page book lists exhibitors; it also tells another story. That of a small and hip sounding haberdasher with sales and PR contacts at Nike.


The ersatz hip are avoided easily enough. This year a number of vintage dealers, many known only to the design community (and the Japanese), threw open their doors to everyone. You didn't need admission to check out what Capsule called, "Added Awesomeness." Use of over enthusiastic PR talk aside, the "Donut Shop" concept worked nicely and details of the best vintage vendors will follow tomorrow.


Santa Maria increased the sophistication factor ten-fold. Not sure the throngs of Jethro Bodine impersonators understood what it was for.



Santa Maria burning papers emit a scent not unlike what you would have smelled in the 13th Century. Makes sense. They're made exactly as they were in the 13th Century.

Tretorn's line for Spring and Summer is filled with color. I couldn't help but notice a combination that'll be hard to secure in Gainesville.



Wood chips and the 2nd floor represented, "Above Tree Line - focused firmly on performance outdoor apparel."



I never did understand this.



But I understand this - Lots of business cards. Many from Ted (the fuck stick) Harrington at Terrapin. Ted and I both share this affectionate nickname from our fathers. I'm guessing if you're under 40 your father didn't call you fuck stick. Turning you into an entitled and spoiled shit... Ted's working on the cards.



Tom Beatty of Wm J. Mills & Co, purveyors of awe-canvas-someness, has lots of serious waxed cotton this year. Rugged looking but with an elegant aesthetic.



John Gluckow of Strongarm C&S, a vintage dealer in the Donut Shop section, had more vintage T&A than I've seen in a long time. More from John tomorrow.



Andy Freidman of Abington by Timberland, probably the kindest human being in NYC, brings back the waffle-stomper craze of the '70s that I lived through in Colorado Springs. It looks authentic but the boot is light and much more comfortable than my concrete Vasque boots of 36 yrs ago.


Arrived early in hopes of missing late riser designers. Still, Bloody Marys were offered up in a bar/lounge that looked more like a VIP club in 1970's Romania.



Paul Mole (Full Transparency- My barber) provided straight razor shaves but I guess I was too early or they were too hung over. Which worked for me. Not sure if a free straight razor shave from a hung over barber is worth it.



George Tart, another vintage dealer, cranks open a 1920's tractor umbrella. More on George and our conversation tomorrow.


And you never know where the Saigon Electric Works patch will show up.

Just Kidding...

My new shave stand (click on image to enlarge)

You didn't believe me about that retirement thing -- Did you?

1965's Medicine Cabinet

Esquire: December 1965

Double click images to enlarge and return to long lost names as well as brands and packaging that remain unchanged to this day. Can you spot those still around and are any in your cabinet?

Charlotte Rampling & Eau d'Hermes

EdH and Charlotte's Riding Jacket


"Cumin in a bottle"

For Mature Audiences

It's been called sex in a bottle. Animalic. Classic. Leather. Astoundingly real. Cumin done right. Balls in a bottle and my favorite, "Grace Kelly's handbag stuffed with Robert Mitchum's jockstrap." I think it smells like Monkey Bread. Naked Monkey Bread.

Created by Edmond Roudnitska in 1951, this is a unisex scent that has always appealed to me. While I love Caswell Massey Lime... it's a little like comparing junior high school necking in a church basement to a long weekend in the 16 Arrondissment with Charlotte Rampling clad only in a riding jacket.

I've had that bottle since 2002. I use it sparingly because it's expensive. And it lasts. My nephew is a scent hound. I once caught him opening my EdH and had to peel him off the ceiling when I said in my best Alec Baldwin bass, "Put. That. Bottle. Down." No 15 year old has the right to wear this. He's gonna have to do time in that church basement for a few more years.

Old Spice vs Canoe

"Otter, meanwhile, had wandered to the men's toiletries display. He was wondering whether to buy some Canoe, the new aftershave that was currently being heavily advertised on the tube, but when he sniffed it he found it much too sweet.

He snickered; Gregg Marmalard would probably wear stuff like that on his dates with Mandy. Otter guessed he would remain an Old Spice man a while longer." Chris Miller - The National Lampoon's Animal House Book

Roaring 20's Toilet Goods

Selling toilet goods in the 1920's was no easy task. Women, they were mostly women, who manned the department store counters, they were mostly department stores, were the readers of the magnificent, Toilet Goods. I'm not talking the 'How To" articles but the illustrations and advertisements are other worldly. More so when you take into account this ephemera is 86 years old. Virtually zero fading with loads of rich color everywhere.

I've thrown in the rest of my UK toilet goods for this Anglo scented week. D. R. Harris (please don't call it Doctor Harris) makes, hands down, the best shampoo I've ever used. $30 will get you a fat tub of the most intense lemon scented shampoo. Pebble like and thick; it's very concentrated. A little bit goes a long way and that tub will last a couple of months. More if you alternate your shampoos which you should.

The D.R. Harris after shave is a bargain. Only $30 and this stuff is pretty heavy. By that I mean it will not wear off by lunch and it's strong contrary to the bottle's promise of subtle. If you ask me, it comes off more like a cologne than an aftershave. The lemon conditioner is no big shakes as is the lip balm but the London store is a marvel. Loads of bizarre and cheap things to buy. Perfect gifts for people at the office you don't like very much. Scented tooth picks, disposable tooth brushes, crap like that but the packaging screams England and good taste.

Curzon Imperial Leather is not what you'd call a high end fragrance. But I swear, it's in almost every London office lavatory I've been in and the smell always gives me flashbacks. That little metal tag never comes off and it works well as a sink hand soap. Like I said, the scent is more connective for me than anything else.

Truefitt and Hill Spanish Leather is one of the Golf Foxtrot's favorites. It seems almost every cologne maker in the UK offers a Spanish Leather but Truefitt is my favorite. At $75 a bottle this stuff ain't cheap but it goes on heavy. It's one of those you can spray in the air and walk into it and that'll be enough.

Their barber shop in Chicago is unbeatable. I had my hair cut there for 14 years by Tomas. Check it out if you're ever on North Michigan Avenue. It's a great experience and I think it's a damned site better than their shop in London which reminded me of getting a haircut in a Turkish sauna. I think the Brits do a lot of things right but personal services isn't one of them.

"Your" Caswell - Massey

Script from 1873

Chloroform?

This chest found in wall of Lexingon Store

An Army Jock Strap

Poison found in chest

A possible replica but still beautiful

Not a replica

Casma is a scent coming back in limited release for this Mother's Day

I have no idea

My favorite red head

Toilet Powder - Sounds better than Talc

I have no idea

A shaving mug

First off, and let me just say this, I love learning about companies and what they make. It's a big part of my other job that pays me. I always run into two types of companies. Those whose employees call what they make, "product." And those who call what they make by "name." At no time did anyone at Caswell - Massey refer to a soap or cologne by that horrid MBA speak, "product."

That's my first clue that the people I'm talking to are passionate about what they're doing. I guess it's easy to be passionate about working for a company that precedes the founding of our country by 25 years. 31 years if you only recognise the 1783 Treaty of Paris. Talk about your reputation preceding you.

History is a wonderful thing in anything. It gives us some soul in a world chock full of things that are never what they appear to be. And when you find something that's authentic - hold on to it. Doesn't matter whether it's stuff or people. Either is hard to come by.

Caswell - Massey's landlord, the Intercontinental Hotel, doesn't know much about soul. Check out time for the 84 year old tenant is April 3rd. I swear, I thought only Chicago was this cold when it came to real estate. The store at Lex is offering 25% off (excluding luxury items) if you leave them your email address.

The new store opens up in the old Limelight (6th Ave & 20th St) Club on April 23rd. I don't have fond memories of that club nor do I think it the appropriate place for Caswell - Massey. But unless the store receives National Landmark Status between now and April 3rd...there's not a whole lot that can be done except to exhale a deep sigh, shake our heads and wish for the financial collapse of a certain hotel chain.

These photos were taken at the Edison, NJ warehouse. Everything you see came out of the Lexington store. I'll post other pictures that will follow this post of the Lex location in case you can't make it to NY before the closing.

'Their' Caswell - Massey

At the corner of 48th and Lexington Ave since 1926.

Started in Newport, Rhode Island in 1752 by Scottish pharmacist, Dr. William Hunter. Now this isn't some company that went outta business in 1857 and was started back up in 1976 by some cretin Wall Streeter who was marketing ersatz heritage. Caswell - Massey has been going non stop since 1752.

Hunter sold drugs and imported perfume to the 18th century version of today's high-net-worth. He also mixed his own scents and numbered them one to twenty which is where the No. 6 comes from. I tried to draw a cartoon of me asking George Washington for a bar of soap in an army barracks shower but it didn't turn out so hot.

Washington was a fan of No. 6 but I don't know if he knew Dr Hunter was loyalist. Not that it made much difference. Hunter died in 1777 while treating British soldiers. After the end of the war Hunter's wife transferred ownership of the shop to an employee and the loyalist connection was lost to history.

Caswell - Massey opened their first NYC store in 1833 and operated as a pharmacy as late as 1990 in their current location. Sadly, they are departing the current location after 84 years. Word is a bank is going in their old space. Well, NYC certainly needs more banks and the Intercontinental Hotel needs more rent dollars. If you want to see this remarkable space you better hurry.

The soda fountain removed sometime in the 1950's.

Upon entering the store, you can still see a discoloration of the tile floor where the stools were. This is where a 19 year old Lauren Bacall insisted upon meeting Humphrey Bogart (45) for the first time before they made the 1945 picture, 'To Have and Have Not.' Apparently Bacall felt safer in a soda fountain with Bogart. Soon you'll be able to use an ATM on this very spot.

I swear the man behind the counter looks like Leonard Rossiter.

These B&W photos are from the archives of Caswell - Massey. I'll go into further detail about my visit there tomorrow but wonderful people. You'd have thought they'd throw me a sample or two. But who needs samples at these prices?

Caswell - Massey was never much for advertising. The marketing was mostly word of mouth and some very famous folks enjoyed just stopping in. Of course, I always enjoy just stopping into a bank.

It is nice to know I share the "I didn't buy anything" guilt trait with Greta Garbo. Every time she stopped in Caswell - Massey on one of her long walks she felt guilty if she didn't buy anything and would always purchase a tortoise shell comb. I know just how she felt.

Store window from extinct clothier, F.R. Tripler

John F. Kennedy's favorite cologne was Jockey Club. It's an intense scent that's very masculine. Both Canoe (1935) and Old Spice (1938) were originally formulated for women with Old Spice being tweaked for men by some added citrus - - but you could learn that at any bank.

Tomorrow: Your Caswell - Massey - New Stuff & New Digs