Lincoln’s Shaving Mirror

Image of Abraham Lincoln's shaving mirror.
If objects could talk

This is Abraham Lincoln’s portable shaving mirror. He used it riding the 8th Illinois Judicial Circuit prior to his presidency. Made from stained oak, it could be folded and neatly tucked away in its self-contained wooden, rectangular case. Its maker, Ben Carr, lived about twenty miles from Springfield. Ironically, the man whose beard became almost as famous as he did likely used this mirror to keep himself clean-shaven. Lincoln did not grow his famous whiskers until his 1860 presidential campaign.