Take a trip into the past on this #ThrowbackThursday as we look at 15 facial hair styles from the 19th century. Are you a Dundreary man? Fancy a sage brush? Let’s take a look at all 15, dating back to 1884. You’ll see some familiar styles, some less so, and maybe a learn a thing or none.

ROW 1:

1. Perennial

This is sort of the full Nick Offerman with a little flare.

2. Sage brush

Named for Nevada’s state flower, this chin also does good work sweeping up crumbs after a good meal.

3. San Diego

The bully that beat up your goatee and stole its milk money. As big and threatening as it ever was.

4. Stubble

Hey, look! It’s Robin Williams in another life. What they called stubble in 1884 some people call “mountain chic” today.

5. Stucco

A full beard, sans mustache? Not sure why they named it after a wall built to scrape you because crashing into walls wasn’t painful enough.

ROW 2:

6. Vidette

Vidette refers to thge mounted sentry in advance of a military outpost, and this looks like a European military style. Keep it up, and you’ll be in Nietzsche territory. That always ends well.

7. Spartan

Spartans were known to be men of few words, and you would be too if this behemoth were waying down your lips.

8. Imperial

Not your usual Imperial. This is like a Van Dyck on steroids. Also called a Napoleon III, which we think is dynamite.

9. Pennant

Just guessing here, but the pennant does kind of look like what you see on early baseball cards. Sporty!

10. Leg o’ mutton

Leg O’Mutton must be the Irish name for what are commonly known as mutton chops.

ROW 3:

11. Burnsides full

Ambrose Burnside never grew ’em this long. Maybe call these “burnsider” or “burnsidest.”

12. Burnsides short

Classic Ambrose. But tragically he could never use the phrase, “not by the hairs on my chinny chin chin.”

13. Patrician

Ironically, ancient Roman patricians went clean shaven. The Greeks thought they looked like women. This guy? All man.

14. Dundreary

Named after a comic character famous for misspeaking (“Birds of a feather gather no moss”), from the play Lincoln was watching when he was assassinated? No thanks.

15. Picador

Pick a door! Any door! Door number three? Why, you’ve won Wyatt Earp’s mustache!

Thanks for playing!

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Filed under: Beards in History