Here's a fascinating article in The Atlantic recollecting a 1976 study published in The American Journal of Sociology on the great beard wave of 1844 to 1955, evidence drawn from photographs in the Illustrated London News:
Fashions in Shaving and Trimming of the Beard: The Men of the Illustrated London News, 1842-1972
Dwight E. Robinson
American Journal of Sociology, Volume 81, Issue 5 (Mar., 1976), 1133-1141.
This research note presents sample-derived measures of comparative
frequencies over time (1842-1972) for changing modes in men's
facial barbering. Students of the dynamics of taste have been slow
to follow up A. L. Kroeber's pioneering demonstration that shifts in
the comparative proportions of women's dress design over time have
generally tended to follow alternating directions over long periods
which are notably consistent and regular in their recurrence. The
remarkable similarity of the chronological patterns emerging from
my measurements to those found by Kroeber strongly suggests that
they are common expressions of underlying conditions and sequences
in social behavior. The hypothesis that stylistic changes are subject
to common behavioral influences is reinforced now that the two sets
of data are available for comparison.
American Journal of SociologyBeards and sideburns began losing their luster in the mid-late 1800s, while mustaches hit their apex in the early 20th century and have been increasingly less popular ever since. The number of brave souls who sported both sideburns and mustaches peaked in 1877, though the study did not address their later resurgence in modern-day Bushwick.
Few were clean-shaven in the late 1800s, but by the 1970s, nearly everyone was:
American Journal of SociologyWhats more, the great beard wave of 1844 to 1955 corresponded to a similar heydey, for whatever reason, of extra-wide skirts in the Richardson-Kroeber study:
American Journal of
Fashions in Shaving and Trimming of the Beard: The Men of the Illustrated London News, 1842-1972
Dwight E. Robinson
American Journal of Sociology, Volume 81, Issue 5 (Mar., 1976), 1133-1141.
This research note presents sample-derived measures of comparative
frequencies over time (1842-1972) for changing modes in men's
facial barbering. Students of the dynamics of taste have been slow
to follow up A. L. Kroeber's pioneering demonstration that shifts in
the comparative proportions of women's dress design over time have
generally tended to follow alternating directions over long periods
which are notably consistent and regular in their recurrence. The
remarkable similarity of the chronological patterns emerging from
my measurements to those found by Kroeber strongly suggests that
they are common expressions of underlying conditions and sequences
in social behavior. The hypothesis that stylistic changes are subject
to common behavioral influences is reinforced now that the two sets
of data are available for comparison.
Few were clean-shaven in the late 1800s, but by the 1970s, nearly everyone was:
