Today’s blog post comes from Katrina Wood, a summer intern with the Public Affairs Office. As I took a self-guided tour of Embassy Row in Washington, DC, and paused at the statue of Winston Churchill at the British Embassy on Massachusetts Avenue, I thought of all the diplomats and representatives who have made homes in … Continue reading Facial Hair Friday: Sir Frederick Bruce
Today's post comes from Nikita Buley, an intern in the National Archives Office of Strategy and Communications. Since the new film Lincoln has spent a few weeks in theaters, we thought it’d be interesting to learn more about President Lincoln’s fantastically hairy cabinet. First up is Gideon Welles, who served as President Lincoln’s and then … Continue reading Facial Hair Friday: Gideon Welles, Bearded and Bright
It gets harder to find worthy examples of bearded and mustachioed Americans in our holdings after the first decades of the 20th century, when facial hair went out of fashion. Fortunately for us, we can look into a decade known for groovy facial hair: the 1970s. This is one of our most popular images, though … Continue reading Facial Hair Friday: Vagabond Goatee
Today's guest post comes from Tammy Kelly at the Truman Presidential Library. This week’s Facial Hair Friday photo is a most unexpected person: Harry S. Truman, before he became President! At the Truman Library, we know of only two photographs of Truman wearing any kind of facial hair, so this is a rare photo, indeed. … Continue reading Facial Hair Friday: A Letter from Hairy Harry
It's the most wonderful time of the year! No, I don't mean the frenzied season of gift-giving. I'm talking about November, the month when several of your friends who have maintained clean-shaven faces suddenly begin to grow mustaches. If you love facial hair, this is your time. Yes, it's Movember! The month when men grow mustaches to … Continue reading Facial Hair Friday: Movember
Today's featured facial hair is especially appropriate for the approaching Halloween weekend. It's the plaster cast of a beard, taken of the deceased Walter Q. Gresham, who was Secretary of State at the time of his death in May of 1895. This death mask—complete with a few beard hairs stuck in it—may seem like an oddity … Continue reading Facial Hair Friday: The Death Mask of Walter Q. Gresham
You may have seen some of these beards and mustaches before! The mug shots of prisoners at Leavenworth Penitentiary have been featured here and here. But the images above take facial hair to a whole new level! Staff at the National Archives at Kansas City got together and created Potatriot dioramas (inspired by this post). … Continue reading Facial Hair Friday: Prisons, Potatoes, Pipe Cleaners
Have you looked at your money lately? Among the nickels and quarters and dimes, only the copper penny has a bearded profile. But although Lincoln's facial hair eventually became an iconic part of his image, he originally ran for President as a clean-shaven candidate. … Continue reading Would you elect these whiskers?
In the U.S. Army of 2010, the regulations state that mustaches are limited to men, and the length and shape of the mustache itself is severely limited: "Mustaches are permitted; if worn, males will keep mustaches neatly trimmed, tapered, and tidy. Mustaches will not present a chopped off or bushy appearance, and no portion of … Continue reading Facial Hair Friday: Handlebar mustaches are not authorized
