What Is A Dopp Kit?

BY Buffalo Jackson Insight

BY Amanda Uher

"A Dopp kit is a simple toiletry bag or shaving kit."

A good Dopp kit will:

- Hold all your necessary and manly grooming tools (a.k.a. toiletries)

- Open wide and stay open for easy use

- Close compactly to leave room for all the other essentials in your travel bag.

But why is it called a Dopp kit? What does that even mean?

The Dopp kit - and its name - actually have some great history behind them.

First of all, yes, it’s “Dopp kit.” With a capital D., That’s because this type of kit was first made popular by Charles Doppelt, a German leather goods designer from Chicago. It seems that it was actually Doppelt’s nephew and employee, Jerome Harris, who invented the leather toiletries case, but the Charles Doppelt Company began manufacturing them in the early 1900s and coined the name “Dopp Kit.”

Dopp kits became widely known during World War II when Doppelt scored a contract with the US Army to provide toiletry pouches to millions of American GIs. The Dopp kits were a hit, and the demand for them soared when American men returned home from the war.

Dopp kits are now produced by all kinds of companies in endless variations—but the name stuck.