Mustaches of the World, Unite! - February 12, 2008

 

Hardly a male alive today hasn't looked in a mirror and thought, "Y'know, I oughta grow a mustache." If you're one of those looking to join the Legion of the Hirsute, you're in luck, for February is International Mustache Month.

Should you accept this assignment, you'll have numerous styles from which to choose. The "toothbrush" was popular with comic actors like Oliver Hardy and Charlie Chaplin (even if the latter's was a fake). Its popularity understandably went south, though, after Hitler decided that it was the ne plus ultra of soup strainers. Older fellas might want to adopt the walrus look, exemplified by Wilford Brimley and football coaches. For the heroic, there's the pencil style -- Clark Gable, Ronald Colman, and John Waters have pulled it off, but one slip of the razor, and it's goodbye lip hair! If all else fails, there's always the handlebar, favored by baseball pitchers, barbershop quartets, and melodrama villains (after all, a guy has to twirl something when tying a damsel to a railroad track). But beware, those mustache wax bills can add up quickly! Suggested Sites... Movember - (okay, it's moved since I wrote this in 2008. Sue me.) American Mustache Institute - fighting for the rights of the mustachioed. Time Magazine: The Deadly Toothbrush - the psychology of the mustache -- 1961 style. Cats That Look Like Hitler - even kitty wants to get into the act. The Hair Boutique: Mustache Designs - so many styles, but only one upper lip.