facial hair question

[nick19thind]

This may be a strange thing to ask.
I've been reenacting for 3 years but recently I got a new girlfriend.
She hates my sideburns which become very long and bushy (3 inches wide in places, I grew them when I started).
I need to know how Victorian men kept theirs a neat length, does anyone know?

[Brian Wiswell]

Re: facial hair question

Here a web site that has multipul pic's of CW soliders.

http://www.loc.gov/rr/print/list/233_cwsoldiers.html

Brian Wiswell

[Brian Wiswell]

Re: facial hair question

I also have a pamphlet w/pic's on mens hair styles of the 19th cen. but I don't know how to attach it to this reply, sorry. If you send me your e-mail I will send a copy of it to you.

Brian Wiswell

[Hank Trent]

Re: facial hair question

I need to know how Victorian men kept theirs a neat length, does anyone know?

Do you mean "how" as in what styles they chose that were shorter and neater? Or "how" as in what techniques--straight razor, scissors, hair oil, etc.?

Hank Trent
hanktrent@voyager.net

[Curt Schmidt]

Re: facial hair question

Hallo!

I am reminded of Lt. William Cooke a few years after the Civil War:



Who was famous for writing:

"Benteen. Come On. Big village. Be quick. Bring packs. WW Cooke. P.S. Bring Scissors."


It was said a scalping knife did the trick...
Just funning about the scissors, not the knife... ;) :)

Curt

[nick19thind]

Re: facial hair question

Do you mean "how" as in what styles they chose that were shorter and neater? Or "how" as in what techniques--straight razor, scissors, hair oil, etc.?

Hank Trent
hanktrent@voyager.net

How as in the techniques they used

[Andrew Keehan]

Re: facial hair question

I would just cut it. As many CW soldiers were clean shaven as not. Just look at the period images.

[Tom Ezell]

Re: facial hair question

Uncle Tom's advice to the love-lorn is to consider yet another new girlfriend... ;-)

If she picks on you now for your whiskers, how long until she starts nagging about your fondness for jean wool, the whiff of wood smoke and black powder residue, etc. ? The proliferation of muskets in the corner behind the door and the carefully begrimed sack and trowsers hanging on the line to air out?

As Shorty would say, "Let 'er slide, pard."

;-)

[nick19thind]

Re: facial hair question

I don't mind, i've got used to her telling me what to do lol
She's interested in reenacting as well and may start in the future.
Andrew, I tried cutting them in the past with scissors but couldn't get them the same size and shape, that's why I've let them grow since i started reenacting
Hank, can you tell me more about the techniques they used please?

[PogueMahone]

Re: facial hair question

Nick,

My future wife first saw me in a Federal uniform working as a volunteer at a historic site where she was a docent. After we got married she wanted to know why I kept going to reenactments. When we got divorced she referred to reenacting as my "mistress".

Tom is absolutely right. Tell her you had whiskers when she met you and it was fine then, so you want to know what has changed to make her not like them now. You can meet a woman in an instant, but it can take months to grow a nice crop of whiskers.

manly man advice,

[Hank Trent]

Re: facial hair question

I wish I could help with specific research on period techniques, but I've always used a sort of common sense approach and never needed to look it up.

At one event, I showed up with untrimmed beard/sideburns because I was an out of work lower-class type, and unexpectedly in the midst of the event, I got hired as an officer's personal servant. I borrowed a hand mirror and small sewing scissors from the women in my "family" and trimmed everything up like I do at home--which isn't as easy as it looks because you're watching your hand backwards in the mirror, but like shaving you get used to it--and when the officer saw me next, he spontaneously commented I'd improved my appearance, so I guess it worked.

To get a smoother, slicker look, hair oil was the typical period answer, and I've seen occasional references to it being used on facial hair as well.

Hank Trent
hanktrent@voyager.net

[NYCivilWar]

Re: facial hair question

Nick,

You might want to refer to the Columbia Rifles Research Compendium 1st Ed. I believe I remember there being an article on period facial hair/hair styles. I don't own a copy and I only glanced at the article in the 1st Ed.

Kyle M. Stetz

[Charles Heath]

Re: facial hair question

Kyle, the article is also on page 351 in the 2nd Edition.

[NYCivilWar]

Re: facial hair question

Charles,

Thanks for pointing that out to everyone, I completely skipped over it as I flew through the table of contents to find this article in the 2nd Edition!

-Kyle M. Stetz

[Bivouac_of_the_Dead]

Re: facial hair question

Here is an excellent site containing dozens of pictures of mid-19th century facial hair types:

http://sackcoats.tripod.com/facialhairstyles/

And as an aside, a period account of the tonsorial art in the army: http://civilwarhome.com/haircut.htm