The amount of mustaches, beards, chops, side burns, soul patches, and even the occasional neck beard at the National Archives requires its own category. This is it.
It's very rare to have an example of a recent beard, and even more rare to have a bearded President after, oh, 1890. So I was shocked when John Keller, an archivist at the Clinton Library, sent a link to this picture of President Clinton. He explains the unusual find in this guest post: Here … Continue reading Thor? Is that you?
There's something appealing about this pensive photograph of Ulysses S. Grant, from his somber clothes to his wistful gaze. He doesn't seem like someone who saw some of the bloodiest fighting at Shiloh. Unlike many of our other featured Facial Hairs of the Civil War era, Grant's beard is not a runaway avalanche of hair, nor is it … Continue reading Facial Hair Friday: Shiloh and Sideburns
If Grover Cleveland were alive today, he would need to blow out 174 candles. And of course, he would need to be careful not to set his mustache alight as he bent toward the mighty blaze of his birthday cake. Grover Cleveland's election marked a turning point in Presidential facial hair. The beard was going … Continue reading Facial Hair Friday: Happy Birthday, Grover Cleveland!
Edward Bates was living quietly and comfortably in 1860. He had been out of public life for two decades but now was being courted by backers for the highest office in the land. The new Republican Party's nomination for President of the United States was wide open, and a number of contenders were vying for … Continue reading Facial Hair Friday—Edward Bates
After a brief hiatus, Facial Hair Friday is back with a special Valentine's week post! When Senator Thomas Hart Benton of Missouri wanted to encourage Americans to emigrate to the west as part of the Manifest Destiny movement, he decided that eyewitness descriptions of the landscape were necessary. So in 1842, Benton sent off his son-in-law … Continue reading Facial Hair Friday: Grow West, young man!
Since April 2010, we've brought you more than 100 Pieces of History. Nothing too small, too strange, or too obscure has escaped the spotlight of our blog or the scalpel of your clever comments. And we are still discovering new pieces of history every day here at the National Archives! But before we go forward into … Continue reading Top Ten Pieces of History for 2010
Today's post comes from National Archives Office of Strategy and Communications staff writer Rob Crotty. While the holiday season is a time for togetherness and reflection, some holiday posters leave you wondering, "did Santa just threaten me?" Yes, even bearded Old St Nick was recruited during World War II to keep the war factories churning, but … Continue reading FHF: Merry Christmas … Or else
They just lit up the White House Christmas tree here in Washington, DC, and temperatures here have taken a North Pole-style turn for the worse (I am beginning to wonder if I'll need to knit myself a neard). So, here at Facial Hair Friday, I thought it might be time to do a search for "Santa" in … Continue reading FHF: Santa in the 70s
Today's post comes from National Archives Office of Strategy and Communications staff writer Rob Crotty. When you think of Ben Hur, your mind probably goes to Charlton Heston riding a chariot around (and around) an arena in the 1959 classic. But what you should be thinking of is Union General Lewis Wallace's impressive goatee. Lew … Continue reading FHF: The Civil War story of Ben Hur
We may be a litttle short-staffed on this quasi-holiday, but I couldn't let Facial Hair Friday go by without a nod to some historic beards. Today's honoree is Gen. Albion P. Howe, veteran of the Mexican War and the Civil War. When a captain in the U.S. Army, Howe served under Col. Robert E. Lee at … Continue reading Facial Hair Friday: “Howe” do they do it?
