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  • facial hair question

    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?
    Nick Buczak
    19th Ind

    [url]http://www.allempires.com[/url]

  • #2
    Re: facial hair question

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



    Brian Wiswell
    Brian Wiswell

    Comment


    • #3
      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
      Brian Wiswell

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: facial hair question

        Originally posted by nick19thind View Post
        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
        Hank Trent

        Comment


        • #5
          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
          Curt Schmidt
          In gleichem Schritt und Tritt, Curt Schmidt

          -Hard and sharp as flint...secret, and self-contained, and solitary as an oyster.
          -Haplogroup R1b M343 (Subclade R1b1a2 M269)
          -Pointless Folksy Wisdom Mess, Oblio Lodge #1
          -Vastly Ignorant
          -Often incorrect, technically, historically, factually.

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: facial hair question

            Originally posted by Hank Trent View Post
            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
            Nick Buczak
            19th Ind

            [url]http://www.allempires.com[/url]

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: facial hair question

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

              Comment


              • #8
                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."

                ;-)
                Tom Ezell

                Comment


                • #9
                  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?
                  Nick Buczak
                  19th Ind

                  [url]http://www.allempires.com[/url]

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    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,
                    Joe Smotherman

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      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
                      Hank Trent

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        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
                        Respectfully,
                        -Kyle M. Stetz
                        Liberty Rifles

                        "I think the prospect for an active and laborious campaign in Virginia is pretty clear and we will again this spring renew our old occupation and struggle between life and death for six more weary months." Capt. Samuel S. Brooke 47th Va. Infantry-- March 27, 1864

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                        • #13
                          Re: facial hair question

                          Kyle, the article is also on page 351 in the 2nd Edition.
                          [B]Charles Heath[/B]
                          [EMAIL="heath9999@aol.com"]heath9999@aol.com[/EMAIL]

                          [URL="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Spanglers_Spring_Living_History/"]12 - 14 Jun 09 Hoosiers at Gettysburg[/URL]

                          [EMAIL="heath9999@aol.com"]17-19 Jul 09 Mumford/GCV Carpe Eventum [/EMAIL]

                          [EMAIL="beatlefans1@verizon.net"]31 Jul - 2 Aug 09 Texans at Gettysburg [/EMAIL]

                          [EMAIL="JDO@npmhu.org"] 11-13 Sep 09 Fortress Monroe [/EMAIL]

                          [URL="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Elmira_Death_March/?yguid=25647636"]2-4 Oct 09 Death March XI - Corduroy[/URL]

                          [EMAIL="oldsoldier51@yahoo.com"] G'burg Memorial March [/EMAIL]

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                          • #14
                            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
                            Respectfully,
                            -Kyle M. Stetz
                            Liberty Rifles

                            "I think the prospect for an active and laborious campaign in Virginia is pretty clear and we will again this spring renew our old occupation and struggle between life and death for six more weary months." Capt. Samuel S. Brooke 47th Va. Infantry-- March 27, 1864

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Re: facial hair question

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



                              And as an aside, a period account of the tonsorial art in the army: http://civilwarhome.com/haircut.htm
                              Last edited by Bivouac_of_the_Dead; 02-28-2007, 10:53 AM.
                              [B]Bill Carey[/B]
                              [I]He is out of bounds now. He rejoices in man's lovely,
                              peculiar power to choose life and die—
                              when he leads his black soldiers to death,
                              he cannot bend his back. [/I] - Robet Lowell, [I]For the Union Dead[/I]

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