The Complete History of Beards From Ancient Egypt To The Present Day

[@robertalpy]

I think a beard would soften up Dominick a bit...like Santa. Tom conversely would appear slightly more sinister.

[@jdeoradhain8916]

Definitely a forked beard type.

[@TheGameKat]

A pointy goatee and a white cat would turn Tom into a Bond villain

[@s.clignancourt1897]

I would still love the two even if they were wearing one of those bread-crumb ridden breeding grounds of germs with the odd spider leg sticking out. However, I hope that would disturb the microphone contact, so I hope there is no chance of it.😂

[@robertalpy]

@s.clignancourt1897 yeah...my ma says something similar..lol. except the beard comes in the shower with us and gets the same treatment as the head so no chance of.spider legs...though the idea that's it's easier than shaving is nonsense. facial hair has its own set of chores just as annoying as the shave and just as time consuming. If there is an argument against it, it is that. Hair wax...combing...cleaning. it's not as worry free as some suggest.

[@roseschneier5788]

I'm a Pediatric Endocrinologist. If a boy is castrated before he enters puberty, he won't have enough testosterone (or more specifically DHT) to grow a beard. If castration occurs later, there can be some beard growth

[@avs4365]

@roseschneier5788: cancer and part of the treatment was 3 years of hormone treatment testosterone suppressant - lost the beard apart from a small area either side of the chin - stopped treatment 2 years ago and full beard back - so totally proved.

[@motorcop505]

Thanks for sharing this. It explains why the archetypal eunuch is portrayed as an overweight man with a clean shaven face. Come to think of it, I’ve never seen one in any older painting with any facial hair.

[@jelly_fischer]

This is the most interesting thing I’ve ever seen in my life

[@paudical]

😂

[@jelly_fischer]

@@paudical😂

[@Clarkeianto]

😅

[@maryj5593]

You need to get out more 😂

[@jacobtracy7847]

Two beardless men talking about beards. A 5 O'Clock shadow would have been appropriate

[@karlernstbuddenbrock371]

😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@nicka3697]

I feel one of them should have worn a fake pharoah beard for youtube watchers. Or is that a patreon exclusive?

[@SeattleForge]

Until 1916, it was a statutory requirement for all members of the British Army to wear a moustache. Uniform regulation command number 1695 stipulated “the hair of the head will be kept short. The chin and the under-lip will be shaved, but not the upper lip…”. Mustaches were trimmed back or shaved with the urgent need for a good seal on a gas mask.

[@edinburgh1578]

Which is the reason for Hitler's mustache.

[@majorbloodnok6659]

I grew a beard so that I could spend five minutes longer in bed.

[@waynemcauliffe-fv5yf]

[@Lorenzodimichele-iy3sv]

idem

[@avs4365]

I grew a beard as soon as I could to stop doing something that in 24 hours I would have to do again. Never guessed it has so many other surprising connotations!

[@zak3744]

I've always found the term "growing" a beard a bit of an odd one. After all, people don't actively grow beards, it happens by default! The idea that the default state is seen as an action is kind of interesting in itself. Logic would surely dictate that "unsporting" a beard is in fact the thing that involves a positive action/choice!

[@Wrz2e]

Are there any barbers on Chatham High Street?

[@Dimera09]

I've heard Tom & Dom refer to Chatham High St several times before but I don't get the reference. PLEASE can you elaborate?!

[@archeanna1425]

Re: Thoreau's brother dying from 'lockjaw' - tetanus is the disease formerly called lockjaw. It's marked by muscle contractions, especially of the jaw and face and is avoided by having a DPT vaccine.

[@ajclarke3978]

As a bearer of a beard myself i enjoyed this. And, having noticed beards becoming more and more popular, i feel proud to be part of the vanguard of the return of the beard.

[@jacobtracy7847]

I think it's been for the last 24 years!

[@LS-xs7sg]

It’s partly the Islamic influence

[@samneis128]

I would say, in America at least, beards have been distinctly on the way back since 2005-2010. After the 2000 election, I remember reading an Onion parody article in which Al Gore was said to have grown a beard as a sign he'd really let himself go. The first Dos Equis Most Interesting Man in the World commercial was in 2006, and at that point his having a beard marked him out as a bit of an eccentric, but an eccentric to be emulated. At the same time, Special Forces guys in Afghanistan were growing beards because the tribal chieftains wouldn't respect them in negotiations clean shaven, so beards became a rule that elite military units were allowed to break, while normal enlisted weren't, which gives it cachet. The popularity of really big beards took a while to follow smaller ones, because, for many of us, they just take a long time to grow.

[@s.clignancourt1897]

As a non-bearer of a beard, being of the opposite sex... I can confirm that the beard was back around 2014 or 2018, because I remember my distinct horror that all World cup footballers suddenly seemed to drag one of those things behind in which bread crumbs get stuck. The only thing worse than that is shaving them off and displaying tattoos around their throats. //Having said that, the broadcast was a joy as ever. We love you two. And: please don't grow beards! 😂❤

[@s.clignancourt1897]

​@@LS-xs7sg Yep. Looking forward for the fashion to change!

[@ardasarkaya6276]

I think both Tom and Domic should have grew beards solely for this episode.

[@GoBlueGirl78]

😂😂

[@billder2655]

In the past I've rebuked myself for clamouring for the youtube version of this two-parter - after all, I was reminded of the words of one of the great foes of the podcast, a certain Corsican General who's been known to display a thin cruel smile, who would undoubtedly have rebuked me as a 'beardless youth', 'who ought not to offer advice until he too had commanded 300 podcast episodes'.

[@Free-flyBE]

LOL; watching Dominick crack up infectious! I have 5 grown sons half British/half Swedish who can barely grow a beard:/

[@restishistorypod]

Thank you !

[@Cromwellsseveredhead]

This discourse about the significance of beards reminds me of what the great 20th. Centry philosopher Groucho Marx said in the film A Day at the Races, "Don't point that beard at me, it might go off."

[@nicholasnunnelee3724]

The best way to spend Saturday night

[@bweresquirrel8279]

When you talk about beards in the 1980s, don't forget the beloved US television personality Bob Ross, who gave painting lessons on public television. Although he looked like a long haired bearded hippie artist onscreen, he was also a retired Master Sergeant of the US Air Force with twenty years' service. A lot of men who spent a career in the military swore they would grow their hair to their shoulders as soon as they returned to civilian life.

[@lysan1445]

That was fun! Who would have thought that beards have so much meaning and history? Men, of course...

[@naomiseraphina9718]

PLEASE, oh please, you really both OUGHT to grow beards! It would be divine! Top showmanship altogether to have a fine and prominent beard! Many of your listeners and admirers would be delighted if you grew beads, reflecting your favorite styles from history, of course! Personally, I think the "swallow's tail" is the top beard of all time, but not every man can pull that one off... If I could grow a beard, I would definitely opt for the swallow's tail, (but it's a moot point entirely, because I am a woman and must remain beardless.) Perhaps I shall grow one in old age, like the witches in Macbeth. I am rather fond of witchcraft... something to think about. All the best to the Rest Is History, and thank you as always for adding to my education in an entertaining manner! --N

[@karlkarlos3545]

I don't know. Many prominent figures of the '60s and 70s had beards, I think: Kris Kristofferson , Bee Gees, and all those New Hollywood filmmakers- Kubrick, Scorsese, Coppola, Spielberg, De Palma, Lucas, Jim Henson...

[@MrPigfarmer23]

Finally, something important, WW1, French revolution, small potatoes compared to the important information everyone needs to know, my kids keep telling me my beard is awful, their ignorance embarrasses me as a parent.

[@tau3457]

At least 7 more full episodes on other golden ages of beards please sirs.

[@Terinije]

Not going to lie, I do like how being a slaving captain was coming off as an egregious insult until the Viking modifier was added and it became blatantly complimentary. Vikings have good historical publicists.

[@helenskene2849]

I think Tom is better off with his Renaissance clean shaven look

[@d.c.8828]

@1:27:02 "Trotsky..." ... "Trotsky--beard, but he ends up with an ice pick in his head--this is what happens!" 🧔 ⛏️ 🤣🤣🤣

[@janoswimpffen7305]

I graduated high school in 1969 (USA)-- strict Jesuit boy's prep school with precise hair regulations. I was very much into the burgeoning hippie / anti-war / leftie zeitgeist of the era. I grew a moustache overnight and inched my hair to the acceptable level of my summer job. First term away at university I stopped shaving. I'll always remember the sympathetic laugh of my father when I came home at Christmas. He knew that I would do that. But even if you look at photos of Woodstrock you would not see as many beards as one would expect. In addtion to their political statement they were a very practical reflection of freedom. Many, many employers at all strata would not hire a man with a beard. So having a beard also signified that either you didn't seek employment or found a career path of free expression. After various odd jobs at the fringes of transport consulting (where I was the "bearded weirdo") I decided to take the plunge into corporate America. Although I was suggested to shave I went through the interview process during which I was told in no uncertain terms--"we like you, but the beard has to go." So out came the razor and I played the 3-piece suit role for several years. Then I left to go to grad school and the rest became history. The razor's role ever since has been to keep it in trim, to make me look distinguished--fooling my audiences as a knowledgeable wizened gray eminence.

[@lylaclark3977]

Who knew.......Men and their beards haha! Fun episode you two. So glad neither of you have beards haha 😂

[@unappreciatedtreehouse821]

My theory is that the popularity of Duck Dynasty began the recent beard craze in the states about 2011. John Lennon looked like a dope bearded or unbearded. Battle of Jena-Auerstedt. As the emperor ordered a general attack, a guardsman took off his bearskin hat and shouted "Forward". Napoleon rebuked the soldier, "Only a beardless youth would presume to judge in advance what I should do."

[@VaucluseVanguard]

The current fashion for beards I attribute to the involvement of NATO armies in Afghanistan. Most soldiers were clean shaven when we went in, but soon NATO special forces started to wear beards. This was due to long patrols, being allowed to be different (‘special) among armies where wearing beards was banned or strongly discouraged in most armies and because engaging with the Afghan community wear beards are the norm among elders -respected people in society. Soon, all sorts of military who were required to engage with the locals and train Afghan soldiers were given permission to wear beards. Soon, back at home the unkempt shaggy beard became associated in young men’s minds with guys doing dangerous manly things in dangerous places.

[@velvtania]

Just a note: not all men were bearded in ERE. As with any other culture there were fashions and changes over the centuries.

[@penelopehill9710]

Hey just realized I've never seen any illustration of an angel with a beard!

[@paulmichael5527]

You have not been to my gym then

[@devilsadvocate7389]

Interesting conversation. In Bosnia today, Catholic priests are clean shaven while Orthodox priests have large beards… Bosnian Muslim imams fall somewhere in the middle, they are often clean shaven or in many cases they have a short, clean beard.

[@kaloarepo288]

Often we forget about the technological limitations - one thing I often think about with regards to buildings in previous times is how they coped without plate glass windows, mosquito netting, flyscreens and indeed chicken wire : how to keep flying insects out and also birds. I should imagine many buildings being havens for bats, roosting and nesting birds and all that type of stuff. Slaves and servants would help if you were rich.

[@nanavango9374]

Who says women don’t have beards? The older I get, the more “prodigy-like” I become!

[@maryj5593]

Same here, quite alarming since I the GP will not prescribe HRT for my granny flushes.😢

[@launiesoult3248]

A beard is for one thing only and that is to keep my face warm in the winter time

[@VaucluseVanguard]

Jimmy Hill did wear a beard for many years, and admitted he thought it hid his large chin. Later he shaved it off and said in fact people took less notice of his chin.

[@alfredklek]

i've been wearing a beard for over 20 years (bushy florid, red and unkempt) and i have never once thought about conquering Gaul.

[@maryj5593]

I bet you are a sight to behold. Some of your past lives must be very interesting.

[@d.c.8828]

Man, they really screwed Jeremy Corbyn over... --This anti-bearded discrimination needs to end!

[@2906nico]

Brilliant episode.

[@tutorjames666]

I would love to have seen the ancient Britons and their famous moustaches (during Caesar's invasion)

[@schmeed0000]

i'm shocked you completely skipped over the ancient german barbarian moustache

[@phillipwilcox6377]

Frank Beard, drummer for zztop, was the only member that was beard-less.

[@givenfirstnamefamilyfirstn3935]

Thinking ‘how can this go on for one hour and forty minutes?’

[@johnrohde5510]

The end of military service in the UK and resistance to it in the USA might have played a part in the resurgence of the beard. The clean shaven look had been part of the functionalism of the early Twentieth Century and the concept of subordination became less fashionable in the individualistic 1960s.

[@ttoittoittoi]

Is this the old podcast episode on beards or something new? Loving the videos but im just confused how they relate to the podcast chronologically.

[@mrcsanselmo]

Amazing how history goes from justifying not having a beard to having to justify having one

[@Gargoiling]

I can't decide which is my favourite beardy: Phil Hellene or Benny Barbati.

[@kgor4643]

The biggest reason for shaving for WW1 was for a good seal for the gas masks. Old spice was the antiseptic for cuts from shaving.

[@tomhirons7475]

Great discussion, thx.

[@ModellingforAdvantage]

Excellent topic

[@eliseleonard3477]

A big (non-political, non-expressive) part of the choice to be hairy-chinned or not is surely that some men just can’t grow a good beard, and going around looking moth-eaten would be risible in any era.

[@eshaibraheem4218]

Crazy Horse didn't have a beard. In fact, I don't remember any of the tribesmen of the plains having beards. Never saw a Sioux with a moustache, either.

[@robinhood20253]

The native Americans are normally hairless on the body , except the top of the head. The women normally do not need to shave .

[@eshaibraheem4218]

Yes, I figured that must be so. Lucķy chaps. Thank you very much. Edit: I do remember, now, that Crazy Horse had a good head of long hair, as did Custer.

[@b.griffin317]

One factor in being clean-shaven in the interwar years was gas warfare. For a gas mask to work the wearer must be very clean shaven at all times, so those who survived gas attacks were conspicuous in their shaving habits even in the most adverse circumstances.

[@jacobcurley4742]

Am I losing my mind or was this thumbnail changed? I could’ve swore that when I scrolled by it the first time it mentioned Alexander.

[@DerekBews]

Yes...but it was Alexander's Barber shop in Solihull!

[@10.6.12.]

Isn't the reason the apostles do not recognize XC on the road to Emausis is because he is clean shaven? Or is that just the Carravagio intrepertation in his famous painting?

[@Player_Review]

Abraham Lincoln rebirthed the beard into the US presidency for a generation, but then their chins went bald for the past 130 years and into present. I demand a comeback of the beard in this regard, if not at least even just for 'No-Shave-November'.

[@TheMightyMurse1917]

JD has one. They're on the way back!

[@justinallen2408]

​@@TheMightyMurse1917more like peach fuzz cx

[@StuartEvans-h2h]

I bet old friend to The Rest is History , Viking chief Hubba had one ...... I lived in John Hamilton's old house, St Botolph's Mansion ,Milford Haven , the .squirearchical seat of Hubberstone .... where Hubba and Idio Wyllt landed in the C10th. Hywel Cadell went to meet them .....a propitious moment as I am a direct descendent of both Hywel and Idio. Nelson and Emma visited and ended up in The New Inn , Milford where Emma ended up singing Rule Britannia and danced on the tables..... lol

[@iankelly5797]

Flashman at the charge wat wat. Great episode.

[@paulcope834]

Roald Dahl had a great deal of dislike for Beards.

[@johnrohde5510]

The role of beards and moustaches among the Gauls and Franks is interesting. Among the Merovingian Franks, only the King could have a full beard. Other free, adult males sported moustaches.

[@juiceyjay413]

Absolutely incredible that I am catching you gentlemen live! Everyone who reads this - please hit the "Like" button and please subscribe! Let's help these lads build their base! Love and admiration from Pennsylvania!

[@davidknox5929]

Most politicians today seem to be clean shaven!

[@GoBlueGirl78]

In WW1, the British & colonial officers were required to have a moustache. Canadian Corps commander Sir Arthur Currie refused, and kept himself clean shaven. Unruly colonials!

[@robertalpy]

Beards are back big time in the US.

[@johncarroll772]

Apart from indigenous indians

[@robertalpy]

@johncarroll772 Well yeah. Apart from them.

[@annemariefrank]

Locked jaw is a symptom of Tetanus (muscle spasm/rigidity).

[@eliseleonard3477]

You guys! The question of Jesus’ facial hair can’t be solved by much later depictions. First of all he was a nice Jewish lad, and second of all he didn’t have the money to bring a barber along in his peripatetic travels. It’s conceivable that one of the apostles (or ladies) accompanying him was a barber, but then it surely would’ve shown up in a story at one point. Along with foot washing.

[@WargamingHistory]

Beards 60s and 70s is anti war - anti establishment a soldier is clean shaven, a respected business man, politician would be clean shaven.

[@coreybell-q6q]

Thank you for this fascinating discussion gentlemen. My own culture (Mormon) has a funny history with beards and shaving. Our founding leader Joseph Smith did not wear a beard and is never portrayed with one as his youth is always centered emphasized in faithful retellings. The succeeding leaders of the church nearly all grew beards, many of them rivaling that of John Calvin or Karl Marx. The bearded Mormon Man became a trope in publications in North America and the UK that often associated their beardedness with sexual deviance (because of their practice of polygamy) and barbarity. After the church abandoned the practice of polygamy in the early 1900s beards slowly waned among the leadership as well, being associated even inside the fold with polygamy and old timey, outdated views on religion and society. In 1950 the first entirely clean shaven man, David O. McKay, ascended to the presidency of the church and at that point beards fell completely out of fashion amongst Mormons up to this day. His presidency lasted until the 70s and during that time the full time Mormon missionary uniform took on its current form of white shirts, ties, business suits or slacks, hard soled shoes, short combed hair, and a formal policy requiring men to shave their face "daily". The expected look for all Church leadership came to mirror these "missionary standards" up to now. Church universities in the 50's and 60's also began to require and indeed still require all male students and faculty to remain cleanly shaven except for a well groomed mustache not to extend past the corners of the mouth, if they desire. This is usually explained as a measure to counteract the counterculture of the time which church leadership deeply despised, but it has remained a strongly enforced policy leading to the ironic situation where a University named for the famously bearded Brigham Young hasn't a single bearded representative. Today in the church dressing and grooming yourself like a missionary signals worthiness and willingness to serve in a position in our lay clergy, as well as signaling white collar employment, which is the sort of employment that most church leaders have. Blue collar and rural Mormon men as well as the occasional liberal academic are the only types likely to wear any facial hair.

[@eshaibraheem4218]

Oh! Made my day.

[@johnrohde5510]

Re the Reformation and whether beards are Protestant or not, it's worth considering the influence of the successful super power of the age, Ottoman Turkey. Turkish and Persian fashion would play a large part in fashion in Christendom up to the end of the C17th.

[@marywoolley-nb7ct]

Lockjaw is tetanus which is a bacterial infection. It starts with spasms in the jaw (hence the name) and spreads through the body.

[@ellenrjoy]

tetanus, ie lockjaw, is a bacterial infection, and if you step on a rusty nail, or even are pierced by a rose thorn, it is possible to get lockjaw, which is why people get a tetanus shot if similar events occur. I've been asked a few times over the course of my 80+ years, if I've had a tetanus shot in the past 10 years after some type of skin puncture/abrasion. So, with, more than likely, not very clean shaving equipment, nicking yourself while shaving could be a serious problem!

[@GuyEndore]

Have ya’ll considered inviting a guest historian maybe the greatpopularizing and prolific Dr. H W Brands 02:25 an American historical to provide some balance.

[@Paralititan]

Young Stalin the bankrobber had a bit of a beard, no?

[@mikejones9030]

why not try a six month experiment gentlemen? let us see your real faces in full bushy glory

[@MtbStoat]

Agatha Christie - someone is murdered by infecting his shaving brush with anthrax!

[@robertalpy]

In the US beards were big the more antagonistic we were towards eachother. The civil war...today.

[@thanksfernuthin]

Very fun but far from complete. I was really looking forward to the inclusion of Asian history in this. My knowledge of history is Eurocentric obviously and I prefer it that way. But learning about beards and facial hair in the Asian cultures would be fascinating with some unable to grow facial hair at all. Finding out how the other cultures reacted to that and they to them would be very interesting indeed.

[@barbararice6650]

Wait! the earliest portrait of Jesus in the world comes from Dorset 😮

[@griffia]

Jehovahs witnesses just unbanned beards

[@TheGameKat]

"He was just French!" 1:23:20 lol

[@WilmaMowbray]

Saint Wilgefortis/Uncumber managed a beard.

[@sebastianb.1926]

From what I know, beards were forbidden during world war 1 because the gas masks didn't fit tightly unless you were clean shaven.

[@nigelmcconnell1909]

I have heard the second half of the 19th century in the usa described as "The bearded age" 😂

[@mrde0mrsai]

American approach to beards emphasising quantity not quality. I think of hercule poirot 😂

[@karlernstbuddenbrock371]

There are too many “evolutionary conundrums”. I wonder when the penny will finally drop….

[@michaelandrew964]

Well, in the ‘60s and ‘70s beards would have been an expression of personal freedom-non conformity. By 1970 beards were everywhere in the USA.

[@enis7x]

You can not talk about history of facial hair without Louis XIV.

[@Mavrickman100]

I grew a beard when the army changed its rules so i didnt have to shave in the field

[@ellenrjoy]

Gilette. Chicago. The Great Midwest. A big + for America!!!!!!!

[@edinburgh1578]

No mention of Barbarossa?

[@RainFall2112]

Also the New York Yankees don’t allow beards because they see clean shaven as upper class

[@SarahBeecroft]

Could someone please tell me the meani g of frequent references to Chatham High Street? Something I've obviously missed

[@fuferito]

To assert their masculinity, some effete men will display a beard on their face, others at their special family gathering.

[@LuDux]

These guys know more about Beatles' beards than pre-historic Europe

[@nicka3697]

That's why it's not the rest is prehistory

[@YrnehLrak]

As wisdom resides in the beard... Why? Oh why don't you, two of the wisest, grow out yours?

[@marroosh]

Prophet Muhammed ﷺ most definitely instructed men to grow their beards and himself did so. Hadith are not his own opinions, they are revelation even if not mentioned in the Quran. Hadith explain many of the commands in the Quran in detail.

[@VirtualR]

Personally I would love to have a beard but I grow a barbaric type of beard that covers almost all of my cheeks, unfortunately it doesn't seem to ever look anything more than messy, maybe some with beards similar here can give me some pointers :)

[@sergiosatelite467]

What are these two smooth-surfaced boys talking about?

[@waynemcauliffe-fv5yf]

Beard up yourselves boys

[@thebuff4120]

Fictional movie character Aragorn (LOTR) had an impact. Women could not stop saying how sexy the look was... More more dirty the more sexy... Go Figure. 🧔‍♀

[@jimb9063]

May I draw your attention to the lyrics of Rasputin. "Most people look at him with terror and with fear But to Moscow chicks he was such a lovely dear".