Los Angeles herald., 1892-10-01
HISTORY Oh SHAVING
ONCE UPON A TIME ALL MEN
EVERYWHERE WORE Boards.

Alexander OF Greece IL Said to Havs
Been tho First Barber--Beards Have
Been Common During the History Of
Earliest Races-some Remarks.
To TIE EDrroR-Can you tell us when shay
ing came into fashion, also something of the
history OF beards7 BRowN AND JONES.
This question is apropos. AT this
period, when the Nineteenth century is
coming to the end of the division. the
fire has been put out in the box and old
father time has reversed the wheels and
put on the brakes, it is particularly fit
ting that somebody, either Brown or
Jones or both, should arise and put this
question. It is a fin de steele question.
The first instance of shaving originated
from the necessities of war; In the late
autumn Of the year 800 B. c., the Mace
domains got their crops in early, and
after the celebration of the harvest home
things got pretty uninteresting in Mace
donia. It was too cold to fish and too
warm to skate, and the prospect for the
Macedonian on pleasure bent when he
fred up the baseburner and reflected
that skates hadn't been invented yet was
not happy one.
Things continued to drag on until
Thanksgiving time, 800 B. c.. when the
Macedonians got together, sailed down
on the Greeks and did them battle. The
Greeks got the worst of it, and for no
other reason than that they sported long,
flowing boards. The marauding Mace
domains grabbed these Grecian orna-
ments and yanked the poor Greek forty
ways for Sunday, leaving him howl
ing mass on the ground. 1t was this
incident that probably gave rise to the
couplet: ~
When Crock meets Macedonian
Then comes the tug Of beard.
An old veteran by the name of Alex
ander saw at once the weak point Of the
Grecian forces and he called in a loud
voice, "Of with every beard! That
settled it. The next day a committee
called on the army with a ripsaw and y
bucket of salve and amputated every
, beard in sight. This is an account of the
first shave known to history. The rec
ord Of the first barbering is frontlet Of
curls made for a princess in the east
5000 years ago, now in the British mu-
scum. Homer has the first reference TO
the razor in the Eighth century, B. c.
He says, with some feeling:
Death or life stands on razor's edge.
After the rape of the boards of the
Grecian army shaving became popular
with some, but not until much later
day, and when Greece had started down
the toboggan slide of adversely, did it
become general. In fact it is we'll
known fact among historians that the
fashion Of smooth faces among the men
has marked the effeminacy, weakness
and final downfall of all nations. The
Romans were always partial to boards
until the Roman empire became too big
for its clothes and acquired swagger,
when Hadrian set the example of
smooth chin in 101 A. D. and gave the
Roman BARRIERS boom. The first men
tion of BARRIERS is by Pliny. Somewhere
along about 206 B. G. Scipio Africanus
took Q jaunt to Sicily and there saw
some BARRIERS. They pleased him, and
he brought 200 back to Rome and had
his beard taken off.
Scipio was a good deal of Ward Nc
Allister in his day, and the Roman
swells rapidly followed suit. After that
it got to be common sight in Rome for
row Of men to sit until 10 o'clock Sat-
urday night and listen for 'Next!' But
this was only among the Four Hundred.
The bone and sinew of the Roman re-
public swors by their boards. All
through the orient short hair and beard
Iess chins have always meant condi-
tion Of mourning and servitude. A long
beard was priceless, and the Moham-
medans still swear by their boards. The
prophet Ezekiel, as early as 585 B. c.,
upon his head and upon his beard in
sign Of the ruin to come upon Israel.
The men were set free, but were
ashamed to go to David with any Of
their beard gone. He found them, how
ever, and sent them on vacation to let
their boards grow out. An old Greek,
known among his friends as Zoilius,
who lived in 800 B. c., and was dropped
of e precipice for criticising Homer,
had very long beard. and SO solicitous
was be that long hair on his head might
detract from the strength of the beard
that he kept his noddle clean shaven.
After Thomas More had taken leave of
his daughter at the foot of the scaffold,
In 1875, his chief anxiety was that the
headsman might injure his beard.
The finest beard on record belonged to
Gillaume the priest, bishop of Clepnont,
who founded the college for Jeshits at
Paris late in the Eighteenth century.
This beard was long, wavy and soft as
silk. But his beard was his downfall.
His brother bishops became jealous Of
it, and decided that it must come off.
This was decreed at secret council,
and the next morning when the priest
entered the chapel three men met him
with soap, hot water, razor and shears
and laid hold OF him. He broke away,
skedaddled and took refuge in castle.
where he died Of vexation.
The only exceptions where boards
k have not been considered as advanta-
geous appurtenances were among the
. Germans, the Egyptians and in the early
kcolonial days among the Puritans. The
SCient German youth was not allowed
khave until he had slain an enemy in
ke, and among the New England
t2l1 l1ans long boards were sometimes
Srci&ly reaped, because the idea pre-
$ailcd that pride lurked behind vener-
ale bard. It was not until the begin