Beard History

Real Beard History

The Tartars figured the Persians were infidels and barbaric twits simply because Persians don't trim their whiskers. The Persians were such big beard fans that their kings would weave gold into their beards! That's FUCKING AWESOME! Germans were said to have, I don't know, at some point, been only allowed to shave their beard once they had slain their first enemy. Touching someone's beard was an offence that you solve by killing that person in a duel. Beards stand for such a variety of meanings, it's not surprising there is no universal answer to any beard question.

Other ancient people, I dunno, like, the Turks, Arabs, well, Jews and Muslims, Sikhs, Christians, Romans, Greeks, Egyptians, Anglo-Saxons, Russians, fuck it - it was like, everyone - they were all really into beards. One of the first major beard trims of history happened when William the Conqueror made the men cut off their beards as a form of oppression and his authority. The best part, is that a lot of the guys were like "What a fuck!" and actually just left.

The country.

In the course of history, men with facial hair have been bestowed various traits such as wisdom and knowledge, sexual virility, masculinity, outdoors-men, or high social status. Conversely, also burdened with the attributes such as filthiness, crudeness, or being crazy.

In the years 1920 to 1960, if you had a beard it would have been for a religious reason, for a hippie/beatnik reason, or for a you're-just-old reason. Up to and throughout the 70's beards exploded. Seriously this is indisputable. If you could, you fucking did or you were square. The ever-bearded days came to a halt in the mid 1980's when something happened. Public opinion shifted and beards went underground for years.

Beards are shaved for many reasons, some practical, some more political. Firefighters for example, cannot get a clean seal on their face masks with a beard. Check. Iranian Marines must be clean shaven. Hmm. Beards are also not currently allowed in Turkish or Lebanese army or police forces. However, most armies deployed in Afghanistan are allowed to grow beards, Canada and United States (based on the commanding officer) have realized the benefits of beards include breaking down cultural barriers between North Americans and Afghan men who often wear a beard. Beards clearly mean many different things to many different people. I intend to find the answers to these beard mysteries.