Shaving Kit Help

[englishrose]

Hello,
Fairly new on here but hoping one of you guys can help me out! Recently purchased a vintage shaving kit of ebay for my bf for his birthday and am not sure what some of the things included are for. Any ideas?

http://img.auctiva.com/imgdata/1/0/5/4/9/8/7/webimg/455525262_tp.jpg

Its mainly the two smaller tubes either side of the razor (presumed these are for brush/powder) and the long, thin tube which seems to be able to open in the middle but doesn't want to and I don't want to force it
Thanks!

 

[rmrdaddy]

Rose,
Welcome to the Lounge!

It looks like you snagged a nice piece of kit there! Your fella is lucky!
One tube could be fitted with a shaving stick. Many manufacturers make their soaps in a stick format, search for Wilkinson Sword, Valobra, or Speick. The face would be splashed with water, the stick rubbed vigorously on the face, and then subsequently lathered on the face (called predictably, face lathering). This prevents the traveller from having to lug a bowl, cup, or shaving scuttle along.
The other larger tube could be for shaving talc, or, if you find a small enough brush, for brush storage. Caution, a brush really needs to dry after use, so unless there are vent holes, I'd shy from that option.
The small tube looks to be a toothbrush holder to me. I'd soak the whole thing in some sort of penetrating oil for a few days and see if that gets it loosened up. The metal on metal contact could have corroded and come oil in there should do the trick.

 

[englishrose]

Thanks!

Thank you for that! I thought the longer tube might have been a toothbrush holder but wasn't entirely sure. Will try the oil trick to see if I can get it open. There is a little stick in the kit actually with souplex - made in england written on the top. Will just have to see if I can find a brush to go with it now!