What's new

beards and moustaches

I am a grad student in history, so I have access to some fairly impressive databases. So I was bored the other day and decided to do some historical research on shaving and came across a series of graphs of percentage of men living in London between 1840 and 1970 with beards, moustaches and sideburns. I wish I could post them, but because of my type of access I am only allowed to use them for academic purposes (I could loose access if I go posting copyrighted material to a public server like this one).

Here's the general idea though: during times of war the number of beards drops and the number of moustaches is almost perfectly inversly proportional to the number of beards. (soldiers like moustaches)

The unexpected trend: In 1840 more men were shaving than in 1900 by a wide margin. The number of men shaving does not get back to the 1840 level until the 1920s. I cannot explain that, the most plausible explanation I can think of is the Victorian influence.

You can tell when the DE was invented just by looking at the graph.

I really wish I could post this stuff, but I would rather be able to get my M.A. If any of you have access to databases or comprehensive records, here's where to find it:

Dwight E. Robinson, "Fashions in Shaving and Trimming of the Beard: The Men of the Illustrated London News, 1842-1972," The American Journal of Sociology, 1976, The University of Chicago Press, p. 1135-1136

It's worth a look.
 
Here's the general idea though: during times of war the number of beards drops and the number of moustaches is almost perfectly inversly proportional to the number of beards. (soldiers like moustaches)

The unexpected trend: In 1840 more men were shaving than in 1900 by a wide margin. The number of men shaving does not get back to the 1840 level until the 1920s. I cannot explain that, the most plausible explanation I can think of is the Victorian influence.

Beards and fanciful mustaches became fashionable in the later half of the 1800's but with the first world war and the use of mustard gas and the need for clean shaven faces to enable a good seal on gas masks, the clean shaven face became the norm. After the war the clean cut look; short hair and clean shaven face continued to be the Ideal. It wasn't till the 1960's and the counter culture movement that any significant number of men wore much in the way of facial hair. There is still an unfortunate prejudice against beards in many quarters largely because of the unfortunate association with the dirty unkempt hippies of the 60's and 70's.
 
Top Bottom