Saturday, January 21, 2012

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?

20 comments:

Anonymous said...

That's the stuff, Mr. Trad, well done! I recently installed a commercial grade c-fold paper towel dispenser in my hall bath - it keeps the little ones from using a freshly washed white hand towel to remove all of that sticky kid goop from their paws.

Mildred said...

Enjoy your blog. Thinking of picking up a few gallons of Pinaud Clubman Lilac Vegetal for gifts this year. Bet that stuff could do double duty in aa martini as necessary! :)

Anonymous said...

Alright -- poker night at the trailer trad HQ!

Trailer Trad said...

Anon 8:04,

Thanks. -If Fore Club Supply carried pinetree shaped air fresheners, they'd be a one stop shop!

Mildred,

Thanks for the kind words. I'm thinking of upgrading to gallon jugs of aftershave from Fore Club Supply. I plan on attaching a powerwasher head onto the top when I need to feel extra fresh.

I don't know what a Pinaud Clubman Lime SEC martini would do to your stomach, but at least your vomit would smell AWESOME!

Anon 4:06,

"Pough....kurr?" What is this poker you speak of? Seriously, I'm a rube but don't come into my house threatening to play hearts or spades because I may start to quote Val Kilmer's Doc Holliday. Believe me, you don't want to hear me utter while dealing "I'm yo' huckleberry."

Anonymous said...

What is your view on trucker hats?

Anonymous said...

Does this place sell mustache wax?

Jim Dandy said...

Yes, they do sell mustache wax. And I don't even have a mustache. Well, not since I got out of prison anyways.

Anonymous said...

You frighten me, Jim Dandy, you really do.

Mildred, on the other hand, seems like a real hoot.

Jim Dandy said...

I bet you Mildred is real hot!

Bucky Buford said...

Mr. trad it's rumored you sometimes also wear a car freshner instead of deodorant, any truth to the rumor?

Mildred said...

Sorry, Jim Dandy, but Bucky and I are seeing one another!

Bucky Buford said...

Back off Mildred, I have an interest in Jim Dandy! ;)

Mildred said...

Bucky! You bastard; Don't even bother calling me anymore!

Archibald Bannister said...

This is the craziest love triangle...

Bucky Buford said...

Everybody knows how Mildred can be. You can get her number off the men's room at Sammy T's

Jim Dandy said...

I bet Mildred was her stage name. She probably made all that fancy martini drinking money working on a pole down in Tampa. Ain't that right, honey?

Trailer Trad said...

Wow,

Judging by this exchange, I think that I must have been teleported back to an old David Frost or Firing Line interview segment. -Or House of Commons, perhaps?

Unknown said...

janitorial supplies phoenix az are the way to go, but I had no idea they did household goods too. I would love to get some one stop shopping in my area. This would be perfect. Thanks for the heads up.

williams said...

Hey you blog is really very informative regarding janitorial service San Diego.Thanks For sharing your information.

Trailer Trad said...

Juliet,

'Juliet Cameron' has to be one of the most beautiful names that I have ever heard.

Given that, I'm surprised and saddened that you don't seem get the point of the post or why Fore Club Supply is so cool.

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