# shaving

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shaving/20139>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [May 21, 2000, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shaving/20139 "2000-05-21T22:24:00Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![djf750](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ea666f/32.png) [@djf750](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/djf750)\
**Post date:** [May 21, 2000, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shaving/20139/1 "2000-05-21T22:24:00Z")

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why, when,and where (country or culture) did men start shaving the hair off of their faces? when did it turn into an art form? (mustaches and goatees)

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**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\
**Post date:** [May 22, 2000, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shaving/20139/2 "2000-05-22T04:55:28Z")

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The [History of Shaving](http://www.quikshave.com/timeline.htm) says shaving started around 1000,000 BC. when Neanderthal man started pulling hair from his body. The first razors (made of flint) date from 30,000 BC.

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**Author:** ![Oat\_Willie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/85e7bf/32.png) [@Oat\_Willie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oat_Willie)\
**Post date:** [May 22, 2000, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shaving/20139/3 "2000-05-22T05:24:10Z")

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I liked the part where the Spaniards didn’t know the Carribs plucked their beards with bivalve shells, and thought they were hairless, chin-wise.

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**Author:** ![Whammo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8dc957/32.png) [@Whammo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whammo)\
**Post date:** [May 22, 2000, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shaving/20139/4 "2000-05-22T15:01:39Z")

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I’d like to know how they KNOW Neandertals plucked their hair… and I dont beleive the reading it on cave walls idea.

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**Author:** ![manhattan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manhattan/32/7_2.png) [@manhattan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manhattan)\
**Post date:** [May 22, 2000, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shaving/20139/5 "2000-05-22T15:04:35Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*\*  
> I’d like to know how they KNOW Neandertals plucked their hair…  
> \*\*

Fossilized stubble in their fossilized sinks. We men were pigs then, too.

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**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\
**Post date:** [May 22, 2000, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shaving/20139/6 "2000-05-22T15:38:00Z")

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I don’t believe that Groucho Marx shaved his eyebrows, either.