# How (un)common were men with beards in 1940s-1950s America? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 18, 2010, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-un-common-were-men-with-beards-in-1940s-1950s-america/539881 "2010-05-18T14:18:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2010, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-un-common-were-men-with-beards-in-1940s-1950s-america/539881/21 "2010-05-18T21:46:32Z")
_Time_ magazine, 1949: [Hair Apparent](http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,794879,00.html) _Time_, 1958: [All That Jazz](http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,868670,00.html) Three American men who wore beards in the 1950s: author [Ernest Hemingway](http://images.google.com/hosted/life/l?imgurl=74ba49199b3bf8cd&q=Ernest%20Hemingway%20source:life&prev=/images%3Fq%3DErnest%2BHemingway%2Bsource:life%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Doff%26tbs%3Disch:1), author Patrick Dennis (_Auntie Mame_) and musician [Burl Ives](http://images.google.com/hosted/life/l?imgurl=5b103344b457ac01&q=Burl%20ives%20source:life&prev=/images%3Fq%3DBurl%2Bives%2Bsource:life%26start%3D18%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Doff%26sa%3DN%26ndsp%3D18%26tbs%3Disch:1). One who wore a beard in 1939: [Orson Welles](http://www.cobbles.com/simpp_archive/orson-welles_biography.htm). ---
**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:** [May 19, 2010, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-un-common-were-men-with-beards-in-1940s-1950s-america/539881/22 "2010-05-19T01:29:47Z")
Again, Hemingway, Disney, and Ives chose their facial hair before WWII. Dennis was right on the borderline (he also didn’t serve in the army). Men who turned 20 in the period 1945-1965 did not grow mustaches. Even the images of beatniks didn’t show them. Older men still kept them, but it was no acceptable for anyone in their 20s during that era. ---
**Author:** ![Susanann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ab992/32.png) [@Susanann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Susanann)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2010, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-un-common-were-men-with-beards-in-1940s-1950s-america/539881/23 "2010-05-19T01:46:20Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Beards were extremely uncommon in the 1950s when I was growing up. I don’t remember a single beard on anyone. For that matter, I don’t remember mustaches either. Even in the media you had to be an eccentric, like Gabby Hayes or Maynard G. Krebs, or a historic character to wear a beard. > > Those dirty beard-wearing hippies™ changed everything. I can’t think of anything that major happening in the 40 years since. It would be the equivalent today of all women going topless. > > All the stories you hear about peoples’ reactions to long hair and beards on hippies are true. The change was that enormous and startling. I can verify everything you are saying. My thoughts exactly. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2010, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-un-common-were-men-with-beards-in-1940s-1950s-america/539881/24 "2010-05-19T02:01:20Z")
I remember being in 5th or 6th grade (that would have been about 1965), and being in the department store. We saw a youngish man with a beard (ie, not someone still pretending to live in the Civil War era) and I just stared. We thought it was one of the strangest things we’d ever seen. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2010, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-un-common-were-men-with-beards-in-1940s-1950s-america/539881/25 "2010-05-19T02:08:37Z")
“Doc” Ricketts of Cannery Row fame was known for being bearded. I knew one dude with a beard and he was a folk-singer. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2010, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-un-common-were-men-with-beards-in-1940s-1950s-america/539881/26 "2010-05-19T02:20:06Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Again, Hemingway, Disney, and Ives chose their facial hair before WWII. Dennis was right on the borderline (he also didn’t serve in the army). Not [Hemingway’s beard](http://images.google.com/hosted/life/l?imgurl=c42a31a5a5a822a5&q=Ernest%20Hemingway%20source:life&prev=/images%3Fq%3DErnest%2BHemingway%2Bsource:life%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Doff%26tbs%3Disch:1). ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2010, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-un-common-were-men-with-beards-in-1940s-1950s-america/539881/27 "2010-05-19T02:45:50Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > And these weren’t considered eccentrics in the media? I was just addressing the comment: “I do know that when I was growing up in the 50s and 60s, I can’t recall ever seeing anyone with a mustache except for a couple of great uncles of mine.” That didn’t say anything about eccentrics in the media or people who grew up after WWII. I freely admit that “normal” young men didn’t grow beards in the 50s/60s. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2010, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-un-common-were-men-with-beards-in-1940s-1950s-america/539881/28 "2010-05-19T03:14:28Z")
> [@hogarth](#): > > I was just addressing the comment: “I do know that when I was growing up in the 50s and 60s, I can’t recall ever seeing anyone with a mustache except for a couple of great uncles of mine.” That didn’t say anything about eccentrics in the media or people who grew up after WWII. I freely admit that “normal” young men didn’t grow beards in the 50s/60s. Seriously? How can you read Chuck’s statement as anything other than who he saw in his personal life? How much more obvious could this be? ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2010, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-un-common-were-men-with-beards-in-1940s-1950s-america/539881/29 "2010-05-19T03:58:28Z")
> [@Giles](#): > > From the [Wiki article “Beard”](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beard): > > > [@](#): > > > > …in academia… My first thought upon reading the thread title was that scientists and professors wore beards. > [@Wilbo523](#): > > Most young adult males in the US in the 40’s were serving in the military, where facial hair was prohibited. I have a cruise book somewhere from when my dad was in _Philippine Sea_ (CV-47) during the Korean War. I recall seeing some sailors sporting beards and moustaches. (One in particular had the waxed 'stache tips and a goatee.) ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_s\_Son](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19adc/32.png) [@Jim\_s\_Son](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_s_Son)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2010, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-un-common-were-men-with-beards-in-1940s-1950s-america/539881/30 "2010-05-19T05:50:30Z")
I think in sports they were very rare before World War II. I know baseball player Frenchy Bordgaray grew one in the mid 30s and was told to shave it off or else. When the film “The Natural” was filmed, baseball historian Cliff Kachline, an advisor to the film, said manager Wilford Brimley nor anyone else would be wearing a mustache in that period. But they didn’t listen to him, saying a veteran actor like Brimley shouldn’t have to shave. I’d guess the majority of companies would have had official or semi official policies about being neat and well-groomed that would cut down on facial hair. I also think most men of that generation just didn’t care for it. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2010, 7:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-un-common-were-men-with-beards-in-1940s-1950s-america/539881/31 "2010-05-19T07:48:08Z")
> [@Captain\_Amazing](#): > > And Walter Cronkite. And Captain Kangaroo! ---
**Author:** ![Jormungandr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@Jormungandr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jormungandr)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2010, 9:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-un-common-were-men-with-beards-in-1940s-1950s-america/539881/32 "2010-05-19T09:50:44Z")
> [@Wilbo523](#): > > Most young adult males in the US in the 40’s were serving in the military, where facial hair was prohibited. This custom carried on even after men came back from service and began raising families. It was the next generation in the 60’s that brought back the beard as a rebellious statement. Beards became more popular. I think the beatniks and their goatees were first. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2010, 10:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-un-common-were-men-with-beards-in-1940s-1950s-america/539881/33 "2010-05-19T10:53:22Z")
> [@The\_Second\_Stone](#): > > And Captain Kangaroo! And (‘sing along with’) [Mitch Miller](http://www.flickr.com/photos/bailey-family/2431876205/)! ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2010, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-un-common-were-men-with-beards-in-1940s-1950s-america/539881/34 "2010-05-19T12:02:50Z")
Are beards really that popular even now on TV, though? And, in real life, I tend to see them mostly on older people and teens that just want to prove they can grow one. Then again, I’ve worn at least a goatee for the last 5 years or so, and I’m 25. ---
**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:** [May 19, 2010, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-un-common-were-men-with-beards-in-1940s-1950s-america/539881/35 "2010-05-19T12:10:59Z")
> [@](#): > > And (‘sing along with’) Mitch Miller! And Stage Magicians. Including **The Amazing Randi**! And **Walt Disney**. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2010, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-un-common-were-men-with-beards-in-1940s-1950s-america/539881/36 "2010-05-19T12:33:52Z")
I would have thought “bearded actors of the 1950’s” might have had at least one webpage devoted to the topic, but if it exists I haven’t found it as such. So these images come from all around and are just the guys I could remember from the era. [Errol Flynn](http://themave.com/bijou/30/galry/flynngalry.jpg) [William Powell](http://crazy4cinema.com/Actor/imgs/powell.jpg) [Orson Welles](http://www.flickr.com/photos/38934532@N04/3719671370/) [Zachary Scott](http://www.flickr.com/photos/35255697@N03/3289225859/) [David Niven](http://www.mielofon.com/actor/david_niven/david-niven-008.jpg) [Vincent Price](http://www.nightmares.ru/wp_test/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/vincent_price.jpg) [Sebastian Cabot](http://www.bearotic.com/img/2008/05/french001.jpg) I wager there are others. ---
**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:** [May 19, 2010, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-un-common-were-men-with-beards-in-1940s-1950s-america/539881/37 "2010-05-19T12:37:51Z")
Don’t forget **James Robertson Justice** , who had several prominent film roles. > **[James Robertson Justice](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Robertson_Justice)** > > James Robertson Justice (15 June 1907 – 2 July 1975) was a British actor. He is best remembered for portraying pompous authority figures in comedies including each of the seven films in the Doctor series. He also co-starred with Gregory Peck in several adventure movies, notably The Guns of Navarone. Born in south-east London to a Scottish father, he became prominent in Scottish public life, helping to launch Scottish Television (STV) and serving as Rector of the University of Edinburgh (1957-60... But he and David Niven were furriners, so they could get away with that. ---
**Author:** ![cjepson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9adbd/32.png) [@cjepson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cjepson)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2010, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-un-common-were-men-with-beards-in-1940s-1950s-america/539881/38 "2010-05-19T15:02:43Z")
> [@KarlGauss](#): > > And (‘sing along with’) [Mitch Miller](http://www.flickr.com/photos/bailey-family/2431876205/)! And Jon Gnagy! [http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://wvartist.files.wordpress.com/2009/12/jon-gnagy-2-464\_1.jpg&imgrefurl=http://wvartist.wordpress.com/2009/12/27/a-jon-gnagy-christmas/&h=1054&w=960&sz=604&tbnid=EacxdHQwF8BCIM:&tbnh=150&tbnw=137&prev=/images%3Fq%3Djon%2Bgnagy%2Bphoto&hl=en&usg=\_\_u0smotFGtNLqfwb\_OZtRiZzHrV4=&ei=-fzzS53uK4GglAeUsuyeDQ&sa=X&oi=image\_result&resnum=4&ct=image&ved=0CCEQ9QEwAw](http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://wvartist.files.wordpress.com/2009/12/jon-gnagy-2-464_1.jpg&imgrefurl=http://wvartist.wordpress.com/2009/12/27/a-jon-gnagy-christmas/&h=1054&w=960&sz=604&tbnid=EacxdHQwF8BCIM:&tbnh=150&tbnw=137&prev=/images%3Fq%3Djon%2Bgnagy%2Bphoto&hl=en&usg=__u0smotFGtNLqfwb_OZtRiZzHrV4=&ei=-fzzS53uK4GglAeUsuyeDQ&sa=X&oi=image_result&resnum=4&ct=image&ved=0CCEQ9QEwAw) ---
**Author:** ![Floater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dc4da7/32.png) [@Floater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Floater)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2010, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-un-common-were-men-with-beards-in-1940s-1950s-america/539881/39 "2010-05-19T15:41:14Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > But he and David Niven were furriners, so they could get away with that. As was Errol Flynn. Don’t forget [Norman Luboff](http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002RVY4KC)! ---
**Author:** ![Olentzero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/90ced4/32.png) [@Olentzero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Olentzero)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2010, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-un-common-were-men-with-beards-in-1940s-1950s-america/539881/40 "2010-05-19T15:41:23Z")
> [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > Charles Evans Hughes Oooh man, that is a 'stache I gotta study. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-un-common-were-men-with-beards-in-1940s-1950s-america/539881.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-un-common-were-men-with-beards-in-1940s-1950s-america/539881.md?page=3)