Beard: Encyclopedia II - Beard - History

Beard - History

Beard - The Ancient and Classical world

Ancient Egyptians associated facial hair with mourning. With the exception of a pencil-thin moustache or goatees, they generally found beards unattractive.

The nations in the east generally treated their beards with great care and veneration, and the punishment for licentiousness and adultery was to have the beard of the offending parties publicly cut off. They had such a sacred regard for the preservation of their beards that a man might pledge it for the payment of a debt.

The Persians are fond of long beards. We read in Olearius' Travels of a king of Persia who had commanded his steward's head to be cut off, and on its being brought to him, he remarked, "what a pity it was, that a man possessing such fine mustachios, should have been executed," but added he, "Ah! it was your own fault."

When Alexander the Great was going to fight against the Persians, one of his officers brought him word that all was ready for battle, and demanded if he required anything further. On which Alexander replied, "nothing but that the Macedonians cut off their beards, for there is not a better handle to take a man by than the beard." This shows Alexander intended close fighting. Shaving was not introduced among the Romans until late. Pliny tells us that P. Ticinius was the first who brought a barber to Rome, which was in the 454th year from the building of the city. Scipio Africanus was the first among the Romans who shaved his beard, and the Emperor Hadrian (says Dion) was the first of all the Caesars who nourished his beard.

It was a custom among the Romans to consecrate the first growth of their beard to some god; thus Nero at the Gynick games, which he exhibited in the Septa, cut off the first growth of his beard, which he placed in a golden box, adorned with pearls, and then consecrated it in the Capitol to Jupiter.

For the Romans a bearded man was a proverbial expression for a man of virtue and simplicity. Roman servants or slaves were not allowed to pull their hair, or shave their beards.

During grief and mourning a Roman would let his hair and beard grow (Livy), while the Greeks on the contrary used to cut off their hair and shave their beards on such occasions (Seneca)

This custom probably possibly led to a tradition in England of widows concealing their hair for a stated period after the death of their husbands. We know of more than one instance of a widow closely cutting off her hair, but these sorrowful observances are becoming less and less frequent.

Among the Catti, a German tribe (perhaps the Chatten), a young man was not allowed to shave or cut his hair till he had slain an enemy (Tacitus). The Lombards or Longobards, derived their Fame from the great length of their beards. When Otho the Great used to speak anything serious, he swore by his beard, which covered his breast.

Beard - From the Renaissance to the present day

In the 15th century, the beard was worn long. Clergymen in 16th century England were usually clean shaven to indicate their celibacy. When a priest became convinced of the doctrines of the reformation he would often signal this by allowing his beard to grow, showing that he rejected the tradition of the church and perhaps also its stance on clerical celibacy. The longer the beard, the more striking the statement. Sixteenth century beards were therefore suffered to grow to an amazing length, (see the portraits of Bishop Gardiner and Thomas Cranmer).

Strangely, this trend was especially marked during Queen Mary's reign, a time of reaction against protestant reform (Cardinal Pole's beard is a good example). At this time the beard was very often made use of as a tooth-pick case. Brantome tells us that Admiral Coligny wore his tooth-pick in his beard. Queen Elizabeth I, succeeding Mary, is said to have disliked beards and therefore established a tax on them.

In urban circles of Western Europe and the Americas, beards were out of fashion after the early 17th century; to such an extent that, in 1698, Peter the Great of Russia levied a tax on beards in order to bring Russian society more in line with contemporary Western Europe.

Beard - Modern attitudes in America

Up to and following the American Civil War, many famous heros and General officers had distinguished beards. Following World War I, beards fell out of vogue. There are several theories as to why the military began shaving beards.

1. When World War I broke out in the 1910s, the use of chemical weapons necessitated that soldiers shave their beards so that gas masks could seal over their faces.
2. The enlistment of military recruits for World War I in 1914 precipitated a major migration of men from rural to urban locales. This was the largest such migration that had ever occurred in the United States up to that time. The rural lives of some of these bearded men included the "Saturday Night bath" as a reality rather than as a humourism. The sudden concentration of recruits in crowded army induction centers brought with it disease, including head lice. Remedial action was taken by immediately shaving the faces and cutting the hair of all inductees upon their arrival.

When the war concluded in 1918 the "Dough Boys" returned to a hero's welcome. During this time period the Film Industry was coming into its own and "going to the movies" became an extremely popular pastime. Due to the recent Armistice many of the films had themes related to World War I. These popular films featured actors who portrayed soldiers with their clean shaven faces and "crew cuts". Concurrently, "Madison Avenue's" psychological mass marketing was becoming prevalent. The Gillette Safety Razor Company was one of these marketers' early clients. These events conspired to popularize short hair and clean shaven faces as the only acceptable style for decades to come. It has been noted that there is a close and consistent association of long standing in American film between facial hair and role -- if one lead male character has more facial hair than another, he is far more likely to be the antagonist, and the man with less (or no) facial hair the protagonist.

From the 1920s to the 1960s, beards were virtually forbidden in mainstream America. The few men who wore beards during this period were either old, Central Europeans in academia, or part of the counterculture, such as the "beatniks". Even today there is some degree of prejudice against beards and against men who wear beards, although it is much less serious than it once was; beards are normally much more accepted in the Western world than they once were.

Following the Vietnam War, beards exploded in popularity. In the 1970s, beards were worn by hippies and businessmen alike. Popular rock and folk musicians like The Beatles, and the male members of Peter, Paul, and Mary wore full beards. The trend of seemingly ubiquitous beards in American culture subsided in the mid 1980s.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "History", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki