THE
{i h
By ELMO SCOTT WATSON
RE whiskers about to stage
a come-back on the face of
American manhood? Wait,
now, before you give a
scornful reply to that ques-
tion! For there are cer-
tain signs to indicate that
the idea is not so fanciful
as it may appear to be at
the first superficial thought.
Do our newspapers accurately re-
flect contemporary American life?
Consider, then, two newspaper items.
One reads as follows:
Apropos the rumor that whiskers are
about to do a come-back as a companion
plece to bustles, also reported to be
staging a come-back, this should bring
about a revival of the pottery industry
by stimulating trade in mustache cups.
—Auxvasse (Mo.) Review.
The other goes ‘into the subject
more exhaustively and says:
Taffeta and ruffles have heen worn
before, and still there was no wide
outbreak of whiskers, We had the
long skirt for a while, too, and few
whiskers returned. But it will be a
surprising and an unhistoric thing if
we can have black mitts for svening
and billowy skirts that sweep the
ground and these coy puff sleeves and
lace bonnets and now long-skirted
bathing suits, even—and never a burn-
side to go with them, The wax mod-
els in the windows of shop and shoppe
alike cry out for bearded company. A
woman in such apparel not only needs
an escort to the soiree. she needs a
doughty blade with whiskers. There-
fore, he will appear, and the motion
picture doctor will no longer be alone
in his Van Dyke.
There are portents, political and mu-
mical. A Paris dispatch informs us
that “the present French cabinet,
which consists of 22 ministers and sub-
ministers, shows not a single shaven
member,” and in addition, four chief
representatives at the London parley
brought mustaches, while the fifth has
a beard Locally, every one is aware
of Chief Justice Hughes, Mr. J. Ham
Lewis, Louis Graveure, Doctor Britton
of the New York botanical garden and
Ernest Boyd, eritie incarnadine, and
finally several tenors have appeared in
those mustaches which we associate
with barytones
Inevitably we must return to our
mutton chops if the spring fashions
continue back toward 1830. The short
bodice, the sprigged frock, the chig-
non and the genteel black glove look
timid with no protective whiskers
above them, yet here they are And
when whiskers come back, mark your
grandfather's words, so will chaperons,
—New York Herald Tribune.
There you have it—from both the
rural and the metropolitan press, rep-
resenting both the country and the
city! However true it may be that
the safety-razor-using, smooth-faced
American appears to be in the ma-
jority today, Is it beyond belief that
he may choose to return to the be-
whiskered glory of the past? History
shows that the facial adornment of
the ruler of a nation asually sets the
hirsute styles of the citizens of that
nation. Now, of course, in a democ-
racy such as ours the citizens are not
likely to imitate the example of their
President as are the subjects of a
monarchy to follow the mode set by
their king or emperor,
But the fact remains that during
most of our history Americans have
in general followed the style in regard
to whiskers or no whiskers as set by
our Presidents, although that may
have been only a coincidence. Our
early Presidents from Washington
down to and including Buchanan were
all gmooth-faced and most Americans
of their times were, too. Abraham
Lincoln was the first President with a
full beard and during his administra-
tion the golden age of whiskers began.
Not the least of the elements which
made the Civil war so picturesque
were the magnificent mustaches,
beards and sideburns which adorned
the generals and statesmen, both Un.
fon and Confederate, during that peri.
od. A Civil war general, or even a
colonel, 4 major or a captain without
whiskersgwell, the picture simply
isn't complete, that's all!
Lincoln's successor, Andrew John-
son, was smooth-shaven, it is true,
but his successors more than made up
for his deficiency In carrying on the
tradition. With the inauguration of
srant, whiskers came definitely into
thelr own and for the next thirty years
they were much In evidence in both
the White House and the Capitol,
rant, Hayes, Garfleld and Harrison
all wore full beards, Arthur wore a
mustache and sideburns and Cleve.
land wore a mustache. McKinley's
smooth-shaven face marked the end of
the beared era, but Roosevelt and
Taft symbolized a sort of a hang
over with their mustaches,
The present smooth-shaven era he.
gan with Woodrow Wilson and has
continned through the administrations
y
of Harding and Coolidge down to the
election of Hoover, Now that we have
had nearly twenty years of smooth-
shaven Presidents is the pendulum
about to swing back again, and give
us another bearded President to set
the style for his fellow-Americans?
And if whiskers are to stage & come-
back, what are to be the most popular
styles?
Look at the portraits of the be.
whiskered notables shown above and
pick out your own style. The full,
flowing “chest-protector” beard worn
by Edwin M. Stanton, secretary of
war in Lincoln's cabinet, is not only
typical of the style most popular In
the American golden age of whiskers
but it is one of the oldest styles. As
will be seen by data presented later
in this article, it goes back to very an-
client times, If, however, It would
overtax the patience of the average
American to wait for the growth of
such a luxuriant crop, the hairy ecol-
lar style, with the ostrich plume effect,
as exemplified by Horace Greeley, the
great editor, might be less trouble to
cultivate.
Many Americans mmy not remember
the services of the gallant Gen. Am-
brogse Everett Burnside during the
Civil war, but they are not likely to
forget what he contributed to Ameri-
can facial adornment, They are some-
times referred to as “mutton chop
whiskers,” thereby depriving the gen.
eral of credit which properly belongs
to him. For, as everybody knows, the
right name for them is obtained by
reversing the name of the man who
made them popular and calling them
“sideburns.” Similarly, his imperial—
and ill-fated—majesty, Napoleon. III,
made popular in France the combina-
tion of sharp pointed mustache and
lower-lip whiskers, or “goatee,” which
goes by the name of “imperial.” It
is doubtful if the average American
would care for this “foreign inven
tion"—preferring one of the “made
in-America” brands—any more than
he would eare for the sharply up-
turned mustache of the ex-kaiser of
Germany. One fault of the latter type
—at least, there is a tradition to this
effect—is that it requires too much at-
tention, such as putting it In a cloth
framework at night so that it will not
sag, droop or otherwise lose its perky
uprightness.
The United States, however, {s not
the only country In which there are
signs of a whiskers come-back. From
France comes word that a well-known
arbiter of styles on the Parisian boule
vards has started a campaign for the
return of the beard which he regards
as the “outward sign of a mature
mind® Thus [8 another historical
eyele completed, for in early times the
beard was considered by all nations
as a sign of strength and manhood,
carefully cherished and almost regard.
ed as sacred. More than that, Its re.
moval wns considered a particularly
degrading form of punishment. In
the second book of Samuel In the Old
Testament is related the story of the
servants which King David sent to
Hanun, ruler of the Ammonites, to
comfort him for the death of his fa-
ther. Thelr reception is described as
follows :
And the princes of the children of
Ammon sald unto Hanun their lord,
Thinkest thou that David doth honour
thy father, that he hath sent comfort.
ers unto thee? hath not David rather
rent his servants unto thee, to search
the city, and to spy It out and to overs
throw it?
Wherefore Hanun took David's serv.
ants and shaved off the one-half of
their beards, and cut off their garments
in the middle, even to their buttocks,
and sent them away,
When they told it unto
rent to meet them, because the men
were greatly ashamed: and the king
sald, Tarry at Jericho until your beards
be wrown, and then return,
David, he
Among the Moslems the beard was
also held In great respect and the
strongest cath that a Mohammedan
could utter was, “By the beard of the
Prophet!” People of this religious be-
lief took great care of thelr beards,
habitually carrying combs to comb it
and keep it in order. It was thelr cus
tom to do this after prayers, while
still on their knees, and If any hairs
fell out they immediately picked them
up and preserved them for burial with
their owners. hey also dyed their
beards, usually red, not only because
dye of that color was easily obtain
abla, but because It was nearly like
the golden yellow, the color recom.
mended by Mohammed, who hated
black, the color which the Persians
dyed their beards
In France and Rpain the wearing of
beards followed the styles set by the
monarchs of those countries. The
beard was commonly worn in France
until the time of Louis XTI, who, be
ing young and beardless, a new
style and the fashion changed. In
Spain the loyal Spanish courtiers re
moved their beards when Philip V,
who was unable to grow a beard, came
to the throne.
set
In Russia Peter the Great
royal edict compelling his subjects to
shave or pay a tax on their
in proportion to the rank of the wear.
er. Henry VIII of England attempted
a similar tax in England, but found
it dificult enforce the law and
later gave It up, As a result the
reigns of Elizabeth and James I were
characterized by the wildest extrava-
gance in beard growing wit some
men clipping their beards into as
many formal shapes as the old-fash-
foned box hedges. Under the reign of
Charles 1 the Van Dyke beard, named
for the famous painter, became popu-
lar, only to be followed by a smooth-
faced era during the Eighteenth cen
tury and down to the days of “our
dear queen” Victoria, whose royal
consort and whose son, later Edward
YI, brought back the pointed beard
issued n
beards
to
torian days.
If, indeed, there is a whiskers come
back and beards once more hecome
popular, they will bring with them
vexing problems. One of them Is:
what to do with the beard when It
is not in use—taking it for granted
that a beard can be put to use, such
as stroking it as an ald te cautious
thought and tweaking it, either one's
own or another's, to suggest violence,
determination or aggresiveness,
cated by
ton Herald:
Bome years ago a certaln eminent
man of New England wrote a letter to
another eminent New Englander whose
title to eminence is substantial and
whose beard
the land.
dimensions of old New England. in
the letter to this bearded New Eng.
lander the friend asked this question
the beard under the sheet, or do you
leave it free outside and above
sheet?
This, we are told, caused the weare:
of the beard much distress, Unti
attention, he is reported to have told
given this problem any thought
had retired at night as other men do
and had fallen gracefully
untroubled and unperplexed. It
had occurred to him that there
anything complicated or puziling abou
its question, however, he had
had a comfortable night's sleep, for the
moment he put out the light and
popped into bed he had begun to de
bate which disposal of his
might the more comfortably
above the sheet or beneath it
we learn that the beard, like many
another luxury in life, carries with it
responsibilities and perplexities,
A ——
BREAKING THE BAD NEWS
“For the luvamike!” exclaimed Dad,
| surveying the tuble, “what's the big
| Idea of pickles, potato chips and let-
mee sandwiches for supper?”
“I'm just trying to get son ved to
| the kind of meals he will get after
| he marries that little snip he's gone
| and got himself engaged to,” snapped
i mother,
Quick Service
“Young Binghampton carries
i self with a rather guilty air
morning.”
“Yeah! He proposed by radio last
{ night and the girl's family had a loud
{ speaker on thelr radio and it
heard for two blocks. He was
| cepted twelve times already
| morning.”
him-
this
Traffic Cop—Well, don't
| move on?
Fair Motorist—If you please, Mr.
| Officer, 1 haven't seen any colors 1
care for In that light yet!
why you
The Boy With the Bad News
Although we ought to banish pain,
And in kind words persist,
The weather man must try in vain
To be an optimist.
Disguise
| original idea, that, coming as a milk.
| man,
The Other—Yes, 1 shan't
conspicuous going hos in the
| ing, what !—Humorist,
morn-
Arthur, How Could You?
Arthur—1 know a man married for
3 years who home every
vening.
Amy (with feeling)-That Is
Arthur—No! t's rheumatism,
stays at
love!
Needs Travel
“Don’t you think that travel broad-
ms one's mind? !
“Yes:
the world."—Vienna Faun,
THE GREATEST YET
Fly—This will be the greatest yet—
a nonstop flight from pole to pole!
Do You Know?
I've just found out
Perhaps you knew ile
That work's just play
When you love to do it!
American Plan
Visitor—Those are wonderful straw.
berries you have there. Do you use
fertilizer on them?
Farmer—No, just cream and sugar.
A Start
“Got a zoo In your town?’ asked
the traveling man,
“No,” replied the native, “but there
is a guy staying here who is said to
be a social lon, and we got a town
hall that's a white elephant, besides
that we got three blind tig ra.”
The Low-Down
Mrs. Pryer—1 never size people up
Yy the clothes they wear on the street,
Mrs. Guyer—Oh, | never do! Give
me a line full of clothes every time,
my dear.
Take Your Choice
The employer called his secretary.
“Here, John, look at this letter, |
can't make out whether it's from my
tallor or my lawyer. They're both
And this is what John read: “i
have begun your galt. Ready to be
Smith.”
The Usual Way
Father (proudly)--Yes, my daughter
Is now getting a man's wages,
Visitor—0, when did she marry fo
Stray Stories,
*J JST one thing has contributed
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Mrs. Walter Ruehl, of Glenbrook,
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dollars a bottle instead of the few
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money together, and I don’t mean
maybe!”
“I guess a good many others feel
the same way, judging by the num-
ber of people I know who swear by
this ‘Fountain of Youth.’ ”
Millions of people all over the
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One Happy Woman Tells
Where She Discovered It
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Try Nujol yourself and see how
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Heavy Wood
vitae, heaviest
to 83 pounds
Lignum
woods,
from 7.
weighs
One Qualification
Merry—Iis your wife a good cook?
Bright—Oh, Khe's
| threatening to leave me —Answers,
YER,
It may be the little stomach; it
may be the bowels are sluggish.
No matter what coats a child's
tongue, its a safe and sensible
precaution to give a few drops of
Castoria. This gentle regulation
of the little system soon sets
things to rights. A pure vegetable
preparation that can’t harm a wee
infant, but brings quick comfort
—even when it 1s colic, diarrhea,
or similar disturbance.
And don't forsake Castoria as
Women al ys had
it was the men who
name,
the child grows older. If you
want to raise boys and girls with
strong systems that will gvard off
constipation, stick to good old
Castoria; and give nothing
stronger when there's any irregu-
larity except on the advice of a
doctor. Castoria is sold in every
drugstore, and the genuine always
bears Chas. H. Fletcher's signa-
ture on the wrapper.
Wickedness is a kind of volunt:
frenzy,
3
| iotson,
Don’t wait
Take two or three
coming on.
feverish feeling—will sto
the headache. And if your
quarter-glassful of warm
water, and gargle. This
and infection.
for rheumatism and other
aches and pains. Genuine
Just
skin, m
a shake or two
aking your toilet
8