HankyCode › The chart › Shaving
HC-040 · PLUM · Historical · documented 1980–1989 · The Sixty-Six · 1980s record
Drop 1 · The RecordEdition of 25 per side · opens Fri 18 Sep 2026 · closes Sun 1 Nov 2026

What does a Plum hanky mean?

Shaving. Left pocket: Shaver. Right pocket: Shaved.

Shaving — PLUM hanky code print, left pocket: SHAVER
Left pocket · givesShaver
Shaving — PLUM hanky code print, right pocket: SHAVED
Right pocket · receivesShaved
ReferenceHC-040
ColourPLUM · #744F7D
Era1980-1989
OriginHistorical · documented 1980–1989

Own it

The swatchThe print at phone size with a name in the margin. Make it yours or make it for the person who should read you, and send it. No account, no email.
Free
Make the swatch
The Study · one sideNumbered digital edition of 250 per side: the press-ready A3 file with the HANKY FAMILY® mark and HC-040 in the margin, certificate, provenance card, hanging spec. The full £30 is credited against the Edition within twelve months.
£30
Left · ShaverRight · Shaved
The Study · the pairBoth pockets, hung the way you stand. Left gives, right receives.
£50
The Study pair
The Print · A3Giclée A3 on Hahnemühle German Etching 310gsm, made by Prodigi, our print partner, and posted to you rolled in a tube. Unsigned. A timed edition — open for the 21 days of its drop, then closed for good — numbered in the Register in order of sale, with the Register QR printed in the margin. Also in our TikTok Shop and on Etsy at the same price.
£60
Print · leftPrint · right
The Print · the pairBoth pockets, posted together in one tube.
£110
The Print pair
The Edition · Family onlyGiclée on Hahnemühle German Etching 310gsm, A3, 25 per side, signed, numbered, blind-stamped, entered in the Register and anchored to the Bitcoin blockchain. Open to members for 21 days from the drop date; when the window closes the edition closes at the number it reached. Pair £280.
£150
Join the Family · free

Drop 1 · The Record · open now · closes Sun 1 Nov 2026.

Adults only. We store the address for this drop and delete it when the drop closes unless you are in the Family. How we handle data.

Where it comes from. Documented in Larry Townsend’s The Leatherman’s Handbook II (1983) and the Bob Damron charts (1980). Worn in San Francisco leather bars from 1972.

Send this code WhatsApp Pinterest
The match Send the right pocket — Shaved Send the left pocket — Shaver
Find your own code How buying works

Where it sits in the story

Documented from 1980 in the extended bar charts, plum in the left pocket told the room you were shaver; in the right, shaved. Recorded in the Damron charts of 1980 and Townsend’s Leatherman’s Handbook II in 1983. This colour belongs to the community that made it; the print is our specification of it.

197220261973 · Standardised across US cities

Timeline stage: 1973 · Standardised across US cities. Read the full history →

Colours next to this one

The code was read across a room, so what sits next to a colour matters. Nearest by eye, from the Pinks & magentas family and beyond.

Bigender / Multigender — DUSK PURPLE hanky code print, left pocketBigender / MultigenderDUSK PURPLE · BIGENDER / SAME ADMIREROPENSOURCE — REPO BLACK hanky code print, left pocketOPENSOURCEREPO BLACK · BUILDER / CONTRIBUTORPiercing — PURPLE hanky code print, left pocketPiercingPURPLE · PIERCER / PIERCEDAUCTION — AUCTION MAROON hanky code print, left pocketAUCTIONAUCTION MAROON · HIGH BIDDER / OUTBID

Same question, other answers

In the same cluster: The record.

Anything Goes — SIGNAL ORANGE hanky code print, left pocketAnything GoesSIGNAL ORANGE · ANYTHING / EVERYTHINGDiscipline — STEEL GREY hanky code print, left pocketDisciplineSTEEL GREY · DISCIPLINARIAN / DISCIPLINEDSmall Toys — LIGHT PINK hanky code print, left pocketSmall ToysLIGHT PINK · SMALL TOY USER / SMALL TOY SUBNovice / Beginner — FIRST FLUSH hanky code print, left pocketNovice / BeginnerFIRST FLUSH · THE GUIDE / THE CURIOUS
← HC-038 SeductionRegister entryAll clustersHC-041 Scratching →

Generated from the HankyCode Master v3 row HC-040 · checked by Hanky Family Studio · last built 2026-09-18