# How old is the Mullet? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 25, 2003, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-is-the-mullet/197539 "2003-08-25T16:17:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Sad\_Waters](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/898d66/32.png) [@Sad\_Waters](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sad_Waters)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2003, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-is-the-mullet/197539/1 "2003-08-25T16:17:10Z")
Really how old is the Mullet hairstyle? I read it was fashionable in the 19th century… ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2003, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-is-the-mullet/197539/2 "2003-08-25T16:24:55Z")
Hockey’s been around since the 19th century. So I concur 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Dreaming\_of\_Maria\_Callas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f14d63/32.png) [@Dreaming\_of\_Maria\_Callas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dreaming_of_Maria_Callas)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2003, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-is-the-mullet/197539/3 "2003-08-25T18:18:54Z")
Well, when was Indiana first colonised? There you go. But seriously, while the 19th century did have its fashions of long hair in the back and short in the front, they were not identical to the mullet. The mullet, if done correctly, looks straggly and unkempt. The French fashion of the mid-1800’s called for consistent flowing hair in the back, perhaps even curled. UnuMondo ---
**Author:** ![RogueRacer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7ab992/32.png) [@RogueRacer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RogueRacer)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2003, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-is-the-mullet/197539/4 "2003-08-25T19:30:16Z")
> [@](#): > > The mullet, if done correctly, looks straggly and unkempt. I have to disagree with this statement. That is just one type of mullet. I remember many fine mullets that were very well kept and orderly. You can click here: [http://www.mulletsgalore.com](http://www.mulletsgalore.com) or here: [http://www.mulletjoe.com](http://www.mulletjoe.com) to view mullets in all their glory. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2003, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-is-the-mullet/197539/5 "2003-08-25T19:42:39Z")
David Bowie, in his Ziggy Stardust pesona, displayed the modern ‘Proto-Mullet’. ---
**Author:** ![j.c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/73ab20/32.png) [@j.c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j.c)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2003, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-is-the-mullet/197539/6 "2003-08-25T23:16:32Z")
Can anyone point me to a cite for the term mullet way back when? I never heard it of it until a few years ago, and then it was everywhere, like the White Stripes. We’d made fun of the hairstyle, and the people who wear them, for decades. Bowie has a straight shag, by the way. Like Mrs. Brady’s style without benefit of curling iron. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2003, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-is-the-mullet/197539/7 "2003-08-25T23:48:33Z")
Yes, Bowie’s was a Shag. I invented the Mullet in 1980, but I didn’t call it that; the Beastie Boys usage was the first I was aware of. ---
**Author:** ![Gotterfunken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/58956e/32.png) [@Gotterfunken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gotterfunken)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2003, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-is-the-mullet/197539/8 "2003-08-26T01:13:50Z")
I, too, would like to know when the term was coined. I have unfortunately vivid memories of when this particular hairstyle was popular in the 80s, and I am ashamed to admit that even I sported one circa 1987 (not the proudest year of my life). But I never heard it called the mullet back then. ---
**Author:** ![RogueRacer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7ab992/32.png) [@RogueRacer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RogueRacer)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2003, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-is-the-mullet/197539/9 "2003-08-26T17:16:07Z")
I have no cites for when the term was coined, but there may have even been a SD discussion of it. The first time I heard the word, mullet, was actually in reference to a fish. A mullet is a decent sized fish that is pretty fun to catch. ---
**Author:** ![SirRay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@SirRay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SirRay)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2003, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-is-the-mullet/197539/10 "2003-08-26T18:27:27Z")
According to this site: [http://www.yourdictionary.com/library/mullet.html](http://www.yourdictionary.com/library/mullet.html) damned if they know… ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2003, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-is-the-mullet/197539/11 "2003-08-26T19:13:54Z")
There are only so many ways to cut your hair. I’d be willing to bet that the mullet has been around forever, even if the term hasn’t been. ---
**Author:** ![j.c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/73ab20/32.png) [@j.c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j.c)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2003, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-is-the-mullet/197539/12 "2003-08-26T21:35:02Z")
I have done some pretty tight lib and Nexis searches, and got squat. But reputable sources usually doesn’t catalog dirt bike magazines, or hot rod magazines… or goofy early metal head zines. That’s where I’d expect the term to show up first. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2003, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-is-the-mullet/197539/13 "2003-08-26T23:14:00Z")
I think outlaw bikers might have led the way on this one. Sonny Barger’s memoir mentions a few members of the Hells Angels who were wearing their hair really long well before rock musicians and hippies began to do so. Moreover, in the 1950’s, judging from the pictures in the book, most of the HA’s still combed it back in the front, so combined with the long hair in back…voila, mullets! ---
**Author:** ![jack\_ss](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c77e96/32.png) [@jack\_ss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jack_ss)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2003, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-is-the-mullet/197539/14 "2003-08-27T01:51:08Z")
The Mullet has a long and distinguished history. It was worn by[President James K. Polk](http://teachpol.tcnj.edu/amer_pol_hist/fi/00000097.htm') in the white house during the 1840s. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2003, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-is-the-mullet/197539/15 "2003-08-27T03:02:20Z")
It was first invented by the “[Incroyables](http://www.pemberley.com/janeinfo/boilypdc.jpg)” in 1797. Part of the “Directoire” style. ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2003, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-is-the-mullet/197539/16 "2003-08-27T05:06:43Z")
My guess is the late 1970s. It was a very popular hairstyle among Buffalo’s groder/hesher crowd at the time. Thing is … that crowd is still around, trapped in time. ---
**Author:** ![j.c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/73ab20/32.png) [@j.c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j.c)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2003, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-is-the-mullet/197539/17 "2003-08-27T05:50:01Z")
Come on people! Into the attic!! Shuffle through those pack rat piles!! Let’s find the earliest published reference for “mullet” as the hair style. Perhaps it’s in an old union bulletin, perhaps a 1978 issue of “Big 'Uns” magazine, a Buffalo zine. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2003, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-is-the-mullet/197539/18 "2003-08-27T05:56:12Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by j.c._ > I never heard it of it until a few years ago, and then it was everywhere, like the White Stripes. Seriously. When did this hairstyle - which IS stupid and very ugly, yes - become the funniest thing in the world? They’re making a damn [TV show out of it](http://www.imdb.com/Title?0367371), for crying out loud!! ---
**Author:** ![j.c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/73ab20/32.png) [@j.c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j.c)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2003, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-is-the-mullet/197539/19 "2003-08-27T23:31:59Z")
I don’t think it’s stupid. The do we now call a “mullet” allows blue collar workers to have a presentable face for the factory floor, while allowing their freak flag to fly (or to be tucked into the back of their shirt during the day.) Trashy. Well, it is that. ---
**Author:** ![Fishhead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9f8e36/32.png) [@Fishhead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fishhead)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2003, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-is-the-mullet/197539/20 "2003-08-28T04:42:21Z")
As a fish biologist, I’m disappointed that this thread does not include a discussion of scale annuli. But I never could see what was so silly or stupid about a mullet hairstyle anyway. Had one myself long before the style got a fishy name and became the butt of so many jokesters. It allowed me to have long hair without getting hair in my eyes, which I’ve always hated. Prior to the mullet cut, I just let my hair grow wild and used my dad’s marine corps belt as a headband. The metal bit on the end used to hit me in the face on every swing when I played tennis. After a summer of that, I cut off the hangy part, which was not as long as the hair. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-is-the-mullet/197539.md?page=2)