Scuttle

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For the sailing term, see scuttling.

A scuttle is a small opening, or lid thereof, in a ship's deck or hull.

A coal scuttle is a bucket-like container for carrying coal. This is sometimes also called a hod.

A shaving scuttle is a shaving tool developed in late 19th century. As hot water is not common in many households, a way to ensure the man may have hot lather is to use a scuttle. It is usually shaped similarly to a tea pot with a very wide spout: hot water is poured in there, and the entire scuttle is brought to the bathroom. At the top of the scuttle is a soap holder, which unlike a shaving mug, has holes at the bottom, allowing water to be drained.

To use, the shaving brush is dunked into the wide spout, allowing it to soak into the water and heat up. The soap is placed in the soap holder. When needed, the man can take the brush and brush it against the soap, bringing up a layer of lather; excess water is drained back. This allows conservation of water and soap, while also retaining the heat to ensure a comfortable long shave.

Scuttle was also the name of a fictional cartoon character, a seagull, that first appeared in the 1989 Walt Disney Studios feature film The Little Mermaid. Being both a creature of the sea and of the surface world, the mermaid Ariel considered Scuttle an expert on the trinkets she collected from the human world, though his identifications were often completely wrong (He wrongly named a fork a Dinglehopper and said it was used as a comb and a smoking pipe a Snarfblat while claiming it worked like a Trumpet). The voice of the goofy seagull was provided by Buddy Hackett.