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Man have I been waiting to drop a hint or two about The Starcraft! But alas, I kept my mouth shut and played it close to the vest. This my friends is a real piece of shave history & mystery, a fine example on how we have lost so much shave-story!
I should probably start at the beginning however. The Starcraft is my homage to one heck of an elegant, yet mysterious vintage shave brush, The Mohawk 5-341!
I have always loved that Atomic Age-esque, spacey star shape of the Mohawk 5-341, just something so sexy about it...yet reticent. Like it knows something and it's not giving up its secrets just yet (if ever). Just standing there silent, steadfast & stoic. I suppose what it knows is its history, which very few do. [I'm also fairly certain 5-341 is a numerical anagram for "PIES"...just say'n.]
I love a good mystery (and pie) ask anyone, and digging into Mohawk's nebulous past is just that, a serious mystery. A real itch I can't seem to scratch. All I can tell you about this brush and company is it was originally constructed of bakelite and offered with different animal hair knots. It was a popular piece of shave tech made in Canada all throughout the 1940s and possibly up to the late 60s...possibly.
So, in an effort to build more awareness around this lost diamond and in an attempt to glean more info on Mohawk, we decided to offer a slightly tweaked variation on this classic, The Starcraft!
"This thing feels like pure luxury in my hand." ~ Andy Leduac, Happy Customer
The 5-341 that my design is based on was originally an all Ivory bakelite handle. But I thought it would look great if the "bulb" of the handle had a nice splash of color, Space Blue in this case. It just kind of begged for it.
Months later after already completing the prototype I happened to stumble upon another version online of the 5-341 that did in fact have a two toned handle! The base was Ivory again but the bulb was black. It seemed I wasn't the only one who thought a little color (black) was needed. But that was it! I cannot find any other examples of the handle except in those two variations and the black bulb photo above is the ONLY one I have ever seen like that.
Mind you, Mohawk did offer some other brush designs but none so different and as stunning as the 5-341. It truly was a departure from the norm and everything else going on at the time. Something that really resonated with me and probably you too!
What little else I know of the company is still hazy but let me lay it out. Mohawk also sold soaps, aftershaves, colognes, dopp kits, scuttles and other toiletries as well, and maybe in 1968 they were purchased by an American Company named *Fuller that may or may not have moved production to New York...that's it!
Can you help me fill in the blanks?
Seriously, if you have any or discover anymore information on Mohawk in your own research; ads, commercials, stories, etc, I'd really, REALLY love to know what you find...and you can bet your sweet dupa I will be sure to archive it for posterity!
Aesthetics
Before any of our brushes are released they must pass a simple test aside from quality control and performance, it needs to move me. It has to appeal to something deep inside me that I really can't describe in words, that I should not need to describe in words. It must evoke this same feeling in our customers too...or what's the point? While the original Mohawk design captured my eye and interest, I really felt like we could push and pull at the aesthetics and really make this design our own...and we did!
After the huge success of The Green Ray with its Tribble Synth Bulb & Fan Hybrid Knot I wanted to explore that shape again. This time however, I wanted to experiment with different filaments.
You'd be amazed at how fast synthetic fibers are evolving. With the market and demand for synthetic knots growing, the competition in quality & development will send your head spinning! This is also due to the fact that a lot of big shave giants, like Art of Shaving, are also making the switch to offering only synthetics...this is huge and forcing manufacturers to out do each other every other month!
So with this in mind, we came up with The Roswell (Grey) Hybrid Synth, something REALLY special. The feel is pretty much a combination of our Suave & Tribble knots. The performance of the new knot is simply outstanding, with slightly more backbone than The Green Ray.
Then there's the color of this bad boy, a creamy grey with super soft white, diffused tips; beautiful in both form and function and breathtaking when combined with the Ivory and Space Blue bulb of the handle. (Yep, Space Blue really is the name of that shade of blue too!) - We put a lot of thought into our products, if you couldn't tell. :)
This my friends is a super high quality piece of shave tech that possesses a retro feel & soul, while flying at light speed into tomorrow! You will absolutely fall in love with The Starcraft!
It's A Shave New World!
*Fuller was bought in 1968 by Sara Lee Corp...so even the few bits of history I have collected seem weak. Again, PLEASE, if you have any info on Mohawk or a timeline, I would LOVE to hear from you!
Approx. Specs:
Complete Length: 5" (127mm)
Width at Widest point: 42 mm
Width and Shortest point: 27mm
Weight: 3.67 Oz (104 grams)
Knot: 24mm
Loft Ht: 53mm
Handle Material: Acrylic
BPA-free, phthalate-free, PVC-free and lead-free
