# Hitler's Mustache...what's the deal? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 10, 2005, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitlers-mustache-whats-the-deal/325570 "2005-10-10T15:11:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2005, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitlers-mustache-whats-the-deal/325570/1 "2005-10-10T15:11:35Z")
Inspired by Hitler’s Hair/combover thread here, I thought I would ask the burning question that everyone of us has wondered about Der Fuhrer. What is up with his mustache? Fashion trend? A major shaving boo boo before his first World Press Exposure? Is he follically challenged? Has there ever been a satisfactory dissertation on Adolph’s stache at all? ---
**Author:** ![Squee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ba9def/32.png) [@Squee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squee)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2005, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitlers-mustache-whats-the-deal/325570/2 "2005-10-10T15:21:15Z")
It kept the sauerkraut juice from sticking to his moustache. 🙂 Sorry not a serious answer, but indeed a very interesting question. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2005, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitlers-mustache-whats-the-deal/325570/3 "2005-10-10T15:22:36Z")
> [@](#): > > Hitler’s Mustache Band name! (if it isn’t already) ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2005, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitlers-mustache-whats-the-deal/325570/4 "2005-10-10T15:54:36Z")
Whateveryoucall it was not an old-fashioned, but not unheard of style in the 1920s. It is worthy of note that Charlie Chaplain has the same sort of cookie duster, but nobody ever calls it a ‘Charlie Chaplain Mustache,’ instead our minds always leap to ol’ Adolph. ---
**Author:** ![Squee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ba9def/32.png) [@Squee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squee)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2005, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitlers-mustache-whats-the-deal/325570/5 "2005-10-10T15:56:50Z")
[Slight hijack]Has anyone seen anyone in modern day society sporting such lip fashion?[/End hijack] ---
**Author:** ![minor7flat5](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minor7flat5/32/258_2.png) [@minor7flat5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minor7flat5)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2005, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitlers-mustache-whats-the-deal/325570/6 "2005-10-10T16:30:59Z")
It’s called a [toothbrush moustache](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toothbrush_moustache). I always figured that they were stylish at one time until Hitler ruined it. ---
**Author:** ![Fridgemagnet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/22d042/32.png) [@Fridgemagnet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fridgemagnet)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2005, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitlers-mustache-whats-the-deal/325570/7 "2005-10-10T16:39:09Z")
**Squee** , yes indeed. Ron Mael out of Sparks. There was indeed a very good reason why Hitler sported the moustache he did. During the First World War, he sported a magnificient creation modelled after Kaiser Wilhelm. But Hitler felt betrayed by Wilhelm (and indeed Germany) for ultimately losing the war, and subsequently shaved his moustache to its more recognisable size as a political statement. Or so the Hitlermentary Channel tells me. I’ve spent far too many evenings watching TV in strange hotel rooms, and there’s nothing I don’t know about killer sharks or Hitler’s Last Days In The Bunker. It’s how I learned a little Dutch: “Nieuw! Dinsdag avond op Fox Acht - Extreme Hitler Machines!” ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2005, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitlers-mustache-whats-the-deal/325570/8 "2005-10-10T16:43:33Z")
Hitler actually had more like a handlebar mustache [during World War I](http://tinyurl.com/dwsto) (Adolph is seated at the far right). His friend, [Putzi Hanfstaengl](http://tinyurl.com/8gdwp), reported urging Hitler to grow a real mustache, but Hitler refused, saying that the fact he was wearing it would make it popular. ---
**Author:** ![Nonsuch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nonsuch/32/2922_2.png) [@Nonsuch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nonsuch)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2005, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitlers-mustache-whats-the-deal/325570/9 "2005-10-10T16:46:31Z")
Charlie Chaplin’s moustache was seen as another mark of the Tramp’s affected gentility; evidently it was more of a middle- or upper-class style than a working man style. I recently heard an Eddie Izzard routine where he says Chaplin “had been taking the piss out of that moustache for years” before Hitler decided to wear it. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2005, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitlers-mustache-whats-the-deal/325570/10 "2005-10-10T16:53:21Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > (Adolph is seated at the far right) I’m sure it was just a typo on your part, but the caption indicates he is seated far left (white cross over head). ---
**Author:** ![Squee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ba9def/32.png) [@Squee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squee)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2005, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitlers-mustache-whats-the-deal/325570/11 "2005-10-10T16:57:04Z")
Wow, they even have the Little Rascal’s dog in the pic… dammit, I knew Spanky couldn’t be trusted! ---
**Author:** ![Cagey\_Drifter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@Cagey\_Drifter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cagey_Drifter)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2005, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitlers-mustache-whats-the-deal/325570/12 "2005-10-10T17:10:59Z")
> [@Squee](#): > > [Slight hijack]Has anyone seen anyone in modern day society sporting such lip fashion?[/End hijack] Yes! I was at the Oakland airport about 2-3 months ago and saw a man with an unmistakeable Hitler mustache. He was sitting across from me, sitting in a business suit, talking on a cell phone. I couldn’t help but stare; the mustache alone made him seem like a carbon copy of Hitler. Believe me, living in Northern California, you don’t get shocked by stuff very often, but I was shocked at seeing this in front of me. The Hitler mustache is such a loaded image, so rife with extremely negative connotations that when I saw it, it seemed implausible to me that this guy could lead a normal lifestyle (have a job, kids, wife, friends, etc.) with this thing on his face. I think I probably gawked at him for 5 minutes. I couldn’t help but wonder if he was talking to neo-Nazi militia members on the phone. It’s sad that I immediately wanted to jump to such conclusions, but it seems hard to believe that anyone could be oblivious enough to the connotations-- or headstrong enough not to care-- to sport this thing in broad daylight and not have some sort of message to convey. ---
**Author:** ![Squee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ba9def/32.png) [@Squee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squee)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2005, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitlers-mustache-whats-the-deal/325570/13 "2005-10-10T17:16:21Z")
Thank you for your reply… I definitely would have stared too! Too bad the moustache and the swastika have to be associated with Hitler/evil… am I mistaken or wasn’t the swastika first used by Native Americans? I find it funny that Joss Whedon fans use the term “brown shirts” to identify themselves… isn’t that a common synonym for “Nazi”? ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2005, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitlers-mustache-whats-the-deal/325570/14 "2005-10-10T17:18:21Z")
> [@](#): > > It’s called a toothbrush moustache. > I always figured that they were stylish at one time until Hitler ruined it. In one of his “Male Call” strips during WWII, Milton Caniff called it “the OCS Toothbrush” (OCS = Officer’s Candidate School), and credited Hitler with one Good Act – “putting the stink on the OCS Toothbrush”. ---
**Author:** ![Erinaceus\_europaeus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e47774/32.png) [@Erinaceus\_europaeus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Erinaceus_europaeus)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2005, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitlers-mustache-whats-the-deal/325570/15 "2005-10-10T17:18:46Z")
> [@Fridgemagnet](#): > > “Nieuw! Dinsdag avond op Fox Acht - Extreme Hitler Machines!” 😃 That would be a great program. And perfect dutch, too 🙂 Oh, and > [@Nonsuch](#): > > Charlie Chaplin’s moustache… was fake. ---
**Author:** ![Cagey\_Drifter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@Cagey\_Drifter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cagey_Drifter)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2005, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitlers-mustache-whats-the-deal/325570/16 "2005-10-10T17:38:44Z")
> [@Squee](#): > > am I mistaken or wasn’t the swastika first used by Native Americans? It’s a symbol that came from Aryan tradition, and became part of East Indian symbology. It’s a symbol of good luck, and to this day you can see it all over the place if you go to India. Almost every single commerical truck has the symbol on it, and many other things do too; I have dinnerware that has the swastika embossed on the bottom. However, one difference is that the Indian swastika goes counterclockwise. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2005, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitlers-mustache-whats-the-deal/325570/17 "2005-10-10T17:47:48Z")
> [@Cagey Drifter](#): > > it seems hard to believe that anyone could be oblivious enough to the connotations-- or headstrong enough not to care-- to sport this thing in broad daylight and not have some sort of message to convey. Maybe the message is — I like Chaplin. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2005, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitlers-mustache-whats-the-deal/325570/18 "2005-10-10T17:54:51Z")
> [@Cagey Drifter](#): > > It’s a symbol that came from Aryan tradition, and became part of East Indian symbology. It’s a symbol of good luck, and to this day you can see it all over the place if you go to India. Almost every single commerical truck has the symbol on it, and many other things do too; I have dinnerware that has the swastika embossed on the bottom. However, one difference is that the Indian swastika goes counterclockwise. Coincidentally, a similar symbol was used by a number of Native American cultures. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2005, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitlers-mustache-whats-the-deal/325570/19 "2005-10-10T18:00:16Z")
> [@Squee](#): > > I find it funny that Joss Whedon fans use the term “brown shirts” to identify themselves… Brown **COATS**. ---
**Author:** ![Nonsuch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nonsuch/32/2922_2.png) [@Nonsuch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nonsuch)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2005, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitlers-mustache-whats-the-deal/325570/20 "2005-10-10T19:50:19Z")
> [@Erinaceus europaeus](#): > > was fake. Yeah, thanks, but I knew that. :rolleyes: [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitlers-mustache-whats-the-deal/325570.md?page=2)