Buy Your Cologne Where You Buy Your Janitorial Supplies!

What is the most trad place from which to buy grooming supplies? Before you answer London's Trumpers or New Haven's J. Press, hear me out. What is more trad than finishing your tennis match or golf round at that old, forgotten club in the leafy suburbs and limping exhausted into the men's locker room. Although the lockers are rusty and the floors are mildewy concrete, you enter the dingy sanctum and set your gear on the splintered oak bench and step with trepidation into the showers. The calcified shower head spits out sulfurous streams of cold water. -But you'd have it no other way. That, my friends, is trailer trad.

After the bracing shower, you grab a white, utilitarian towel and dry off. Ah, there's half used bottle of Lilac Vegetal provided by the club to freshen up with. You exchange an old joke with an equally old duffer then wander into the plastic fern and knotty pine paneling adorned 'grill' for that perfect Plymouth Gin G&T. Various wonderful things lay around the card room like score cards, tees, club napkins. On the shoe-shine stand lay brands of excellent shoe polish that you'd never heard of. -Where do all of these weird, cool clubby things come from?

Since the Depression, Fore Supply Company out of Chicago has been a major supplier to country clubs and others in need of personalized service and a wide selection of hard to find  'club' supplies. The business was started out of the trunk of a 1937 Chevy early on and the young German immigrant family sought to provide items that clubs and athletic facilities might need. During the Depression, founder George even had the kids sharpen golf pencils!

Supplies were in short supply after the war so, in 1945, George K. and Helen organized 'Fore' Supply Company and revolutionized the idea of marketing specifically to clubs. For example, they went so far as to manufacturer their own shower shippers, largely by hand. They were so shrewd that they used their garage to store stock and didn't even get a real warehouse until forty years after their founding!

The company's still thriving and family owned. I've only purchased a couple of things from them but their customer service was great and, even though they're commercial suppliers, their prices are low and shipping charges fair. And there are no minimums!

Pinaud Club products are getting hard to find, especially rarer ones like Pinaud Clubman Citrus Musk cologne and Portugal Hair Tonic. They are also a good source for brushes, combs and other grooming supplies.


Fore could also be your go-to if you go through aftershave by the gallon.

Dandux is an american made classic and I thought that this Dandux canvas laundry hamper would perfect for cleaning up that dump of yours.

Alright, suppose it's poker night at your abode. How are you going to fleece your pidgeons...er..friends without legit poker chips?