Did Great Grandpa have a moustache (golden era pics in thread)

[FedoraFan112390]

A question guys.

As far as I know, only three photos of my great grandfather (1883-1956) still exist. There were more probably, but they were either lost or thrown away....There might be more in other family member's collections but my family isn't one to share such things.

As such, I have a very random question: Does it appear to you guys like my great grandfather had a mustache. The first photo was taken in the late 1930s (the studio portrait), and the latter two were taken in 1945. I uploaded both the whole studio family shot, plus my great grandpa cropped from that shot.

I ask your opinions because you guys are probably more familiar with Golden Era photos than me, but as you know, shadowing and lighting in those old black and white photos can make things seem to be when they are not. I'm just curious if my great grandpa truly had a mustache, or if is a result of lighting and shadowing from his nose or simply an artifact on the old photos. He had a big, wide nose so I figured the shadowing from it could create a "mustache" where there really wasn't one, but I am unsure.


Late 1930s studio shot:

1945:

 

[Shangas]

I don't think so. If there is, it would be a very thin one.

I know it was common for men during the Victorian era to wear moustaches, purely because the only way you could shave yourself was with a cutthroat, and some guys didn't want to bother with trying to shave that part of their faces every second day.

 

[FedoraFan112390]

I don't think so. If there is, it would be a very thin one.

I know it was common for men during the Victorian era to wear moustaches, purely because the only way you could shave yourself was with a cutthroat, and some guys didn't want to bother with trying to shave that part of their faces every second day.

When my grandfather--his son--grew a moustache himself later in life, his hair was rather thin. As is mine when I grew one.

 

[Shangas]

Well there you might have a historical precedent for it, then

Some people have the ability to grow really thick moustaches, some people can't. Some grow them faster than others. It's either shadows, or a really thin/small, trimmed moustache.

I think the last photo shows a moustache. There's a definite difference between the two faces.

 

[Stanley Doble]

It's hard to say. There does seem to be a very faint mustache but it could be a trick of light. The later photos definitely throw a shadow over his upper lip.

In the Victorian age the mustache was a military symbol. All soldiers had mustaches, some believed shaving their mustache would ruin their shooting eye. Mustaches were never worn by members of the clergy, pacifists, servants (except outside servants like coachmen or gardeners) and members of certain religious groups like the Amish.

By the 30s and 40s these ideas were considered old fashioned and out of date, and so were mustaches. If they were worn at all they were much smaller.

Only in eastern Europe, Greece and Turkey were mustaches universally worn.

I don't know if this gives you any clues. Men of the mustache wearing group, by the time your photos were taken, would likely be wearing a smaller mustache if they wore one at all.

 

[Fletch]

Look at Esquire or other men's clothing illustration in the 30s (before live models) and you'll see that their ideal customer was of the WW1 generation and almost always a mustache wearer. (now that I think of it, it might have been to distinguish him from the Prince of Wales, who was about the only influence on men's fashions at the time).

 

[FedoraFan112390]

My great grandpa was an Italian immigrant who came here around 1906. I have no earlier or later pictures of the man.

For comparison, this is my grandfather--his son--later in life with a moustache.

 

[CircuitRider]

In his mid to late 50's...same age I am now!

 

[FedoraFan112390]

If you guys open up the pictures in a new window, you can see them in Hi Res--I uploaded them at HUGE resolutions.

 

[1961MJS]

Hi

Grandpa Mike, and Grandaddy Harv didn't have facial hair. Neither's Father did either. I don't know about my Great**2 Grandfathers from that direction, I only have pictures of both Grandmother's grandfathers and on. The Civil war vet has a full beard (I think his wife did too).

Later

 

[Nick D]

It looks like a very close-trimmed 'tache, almost stubble under the nose. Byron Foulger wore a similar one for several of his characters.

Regarding the Victorians, their moustaches had nothing to do with straight razors, they were the result of changing taste and fashion. It has been suggested they may have been influenced by the moustaches worn by the Indians during the period of empire.

 

[Haversack]

I believe the Victorian Era mens' fashion for facial hair in both the UK and the USA received a boost from the Crimean War and the American Civil War. Shaving while on campaign is more difficult, and officers returning to civilian life wore their facial hair as a sign of having been there.

One can trace the fashion by taking a look at US presidents from Lincoln to Wilson. All were bearded or significantly mustached except Johnson and McKinley. Also, mustaches appear to supplant beards in the last quarter of the 19th C.

As far as my own relations go, of the two Great-Grandfathers I have seen photographs of, both had large bushy mustaches. One was an engineer in England. The other was a Danish draft-dodger from the Prussian Army who became a rancher in California. Both Grandfathers, (who were in their respective armies during WWI), were clean shaven their entire lives.

Haversack.

 

[dnjan]

Never saw a picture of either grandfather with a moustache.
I did see a picture of my dad (and also my uncle) who grew moustaches for the town centiennial.

 

[Zombie_61]

...Does it appear to you guys like my great grandfather had a mustache. The first photo was taken in the late 1930s (the studio portrait), and the latter two were taken in 1945.

Taking into consideration the fact that the "shadow" on his upper lip appears in both settings (studio and casual outdoors) under very different lighting conditions, I would say yes he did. Additionally, the slight shadow cast by his nose in the two outdoor photos is clearly deliniated and separate from the "shadow" on his upper lip. However, it appears your grandfather was rather meticulous about his appearance, so his moustache was probably close-cut and neatly trimmed at all times which would account for it not being more apparent in your photos. And, by the way, great photos!

 

[RBH]

My g-g grandfather had a full beard.
1851-1931