# 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:** 2
**Author:** ![Wakinyan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wakinyan/32/352_2.png) [@Wakinyan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wakinyan)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2005, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitlers-mustache-whats-the-deal/325570/21 "2005-10-10T20:32:29Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Coincidentally, a similar symbol was used by a number of Native American cultures. It’s one of them symbols (in all kinds of variations) which you find just about in every continent. In nothern parts of Europe, for instance, it was a symbol for the sun (at least, as far as one knows). Finland used it for its Air Force long before the nazists came along, by the way, but it was standing up, not tipped on one side, so the swastika was hijacked by the nazists, just like this thread is being hijacked by us. ---
**Author:** ![seosamh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce7236/32.png) [@seosamh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seosamh)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2005, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitlers-mustache-whats-the-deal/325570/22 "2005-10-10T23:16:34Z")
Someone - possibly Winston Churchill? - when asked whether he was frightened of Herr Hitler replied that, if ever he was, all he had to do was imagine Hitler shaving in the morning. Just think of what a twat he would look like while shaping it. That explains why the Allies won WW2. ---
**Author:** ![What\_the](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f4b2a3/32.png) [@What\_the](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_the)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2005, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitlers-mustache-whats-the-deal/325570/23 "2005-10-10T23:43:58Z")
How about John Waters or is his too thin. ---
**Author:** ![priapus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@priapus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/priapus)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2005, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitlers-mustache-whats-the-deal/325570/24 "2005-10-10T23:49:25Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > 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”. Yeah, Steve Canyon didn’t need no stinking moustache ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2005, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitlers-mustache-whats-the-deal/325570/25 "2005-10-11T01:20:35Z")
> [@Paul in Saudi](#): > > Whateveryoucall it was not an old-fashioned, but not unheard of style in the 1920s. Ah… a 1920s style “Death Mustache” ---
**Author:** ![mrrealtime](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e8c25b/32.png) [@mrrealtime](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mrrealtime)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2005, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitlers-mustache-whats-the-deal/325570/26 "2005-10-11T01:48:39Z")
I heard it was recovering next to Tom Sellecks old mustache… viva mustachio (yes, im plugging [www.vivamustachio.com](http://www.vivamustachio.com). ---
**Author:** ![leenmi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f1d935/32.png) [@leenmi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leenmi)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2005, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitlers-mustache-whats-the-deal/325570/27 "2005-10-11T01:58:50Z")
I saw mustaches similar to Hitler’s in the military. Regulations required men to keep their mustaches from extending past the corners of the mouth. Some men trimmed a little too much off one side, balanced on the other and ended up with a Hitler 'stache. Not sure why they didn’t just shave the whole thing. Maybe they believed it was a little wider than Hitler’s, so it was okay. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2005, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitlers-mustache-whats-the-deal/325570/28 "2005-10-11T02:39:15Z")
> [@What the .... ?!?!](#): > > How about John Waters or is his too thin. Oh, too thin – makes it an entirely different style. ---
**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 11, 2005, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitlers-mustache-whats-the-deal/325570/29 "2005-10-11T02:47:24Z")
> [@What the .... ?!?!](#): > > How about John Waters or is his too thin. Waters was on Letterman several years ago plugging his movie _Cry-Baby_. Letterman asked him about his moustache. John offered Dave a chance to touch it. He declined. ---
**Author:** ![waits](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/df788c/32.png) [@waits](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/waits)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2005, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitlers-mustache-whats-the-deal/325570/30 "2005-10-11T03:06:50Z")
> [@Squee](#): > > Wow, they even have the Little Rascal’s dog in the pic… dammit, I knew Spanky couldn’t be trusted! No, no, no. That wasn’t Spanky with Hitler. He was with [**Oliver Hardy**](http://www.imdb.com/gallery/mptv/1401/Mptv/1401/3636_0093.jpg?path=pgallery&path_key=Hardy,%20Oliver). ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2005, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitlers-mustache-whats-the-deal/325570/31 "2005-10-11T04:13:25Z")
I’d always heard Hitler’s mustache called a “postage stamp.” > [@Cagey Drifter](#): > > It’s a symbol that came from Aryan tradition, and became part of East Indian symbology. Dan Brown? 😉 The swastika is found in a number of different cultures. It’s really a pretty basic design. Apparently, Nazis weren’t even the ones who linked it with racism in Germany; they just continued to capitalize on associations other had made. ---
**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 11, 2005, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitlers-mustache-whats-the-deal/325570/32 "2005-10-11T04:27:46Z")
> [@What the .... ?!?!](#): > > How about John Waters or is his too thin. That’s a “pencil-thin moustache,” something completely different from a “toothbrush moustache.” ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2005, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitlers-mustache-whats-the-deal/325570/33 "2005-10-11T05:03:17Z")
> [@Paul in Saudi](#): > > 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. Which is one of the many reasons Chaplin despised Hitler. He thought Hitler wore the mustache to capitalize on Chaplin’s popularity (especially among the working classes) to advocate an odious political agenda. ---
**Author:** ![zagloba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/977dab/32.png) [@zagloba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zagloba)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2005, 7:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitlers-mustache-whats-the-deal/325570/34 "2005-10-11T07:44:17Z")
When I was a little kid (mid 60s), my grandpa had a rather hitlerian moustache. I really didn’t know who Hitler was at that age, so I said something in Grandpa’s hearing about how his moustache looked like Hitler’s. He didn’t wear a moustache for very long after that. I only remembered this incident a couple of years ago, long after Grandpa had died. I felt a little guilty – my naive comment probably hurt his feelings. ---
**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 11, 2005, 11:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitlers-mustache-whats-the-deal/325570/35 "2005-10-11T11:14:39Z")
> [@Squee](#): > > Wow, they even have the Little Rascal’s dog in the pic… dammit, I knew Spanky couldn’t be trusted! And he looks like he is even sportin’ a mustache. Traitor! Thanks for the replies, I’ve been rather taken aback with a nasty cold and in my Nyquil induced fog have had these bizarre images of Hitler’s Mustache running through my head. I have to admit that I never noticed that the mustache of Oliver and Hardy (whomever the fat one was) and Charlie Chaplin were the near same as Adolph’s. I guess because the former brought joy and laughter to many and the latter is an evil bugger writhing in the depth of hell right now. ---
**Author:** ![kidchameleon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/898d66/32.png) [@kidchameleon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kidchameleon)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2005, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitlers-mustache-whats-the-deal/325570/36 "2005-10-11T11:39:06Z")
There’s a guy at work who is a smaller guy and tried to grow a mustache. Well, it seems he’s greying a bit and the ends of his 'stache were pretty grey except for the middle bit which was jet black. We called him the ‘Littlest Nazi’. ---
**Author:** ![cowgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8c91f0/32.png) [@cowgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cowgirl)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2005, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitlers-mustache-whats-the-deal/325570/37 "2005-10-11T14:00:27Z")
And then there’s [url=http://newsfeed.tcm.ie/images/people/robertmugabe.JPG]Robert Mugabe\*\*'s effort, which really gives me the willies. Does it count as a Hitler moustache or is it too narrow? ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2005, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitlers-mustache-whats-the-deal/325570/38 "2005-10-11T14:02:33Z")
> [@Shirley Ujest](#): > > I have to admit that I never noticed that the mustache of Oliver and Hardy (whomever the fat one was) and Charlie Chaplin were the near same as Adolph’s. It’s (Stan) **Laurel and** (Oliver) **Hardy**. Hardy is the fat guy with the 'stache. ---
**Author:** ![cowgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8c91f0/32.png) [@cowgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cowgirl)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2005, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitlers-mustache-whats-the-deal/325570/39 "2005-10-11T14:06:05Z")
> [@cowgirl](#): > > And then there’s [Robert Mugabe](http://newsfeed.tcm.ie/images/people/robertmugabe.JPG)’s effort, which really gives me the willies. > > Does it count as a Hitler moustache or is it too narrow? Fixed link. :: slinks off in embarassment :: ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2005, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitlers-mustache-whats-the-deal/325570/40 "2005-10-11T14:12:51Z")
J. Jonas Jameson Davis Wolfgang Hawke (aka Andrew Britt Greenbaum, the Jewish Spam Nazi) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitlers-mustache-whats-the-deal/325570.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitlers-mustache-whats-the-deal/325570.md?page=3)