Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-05-11
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL,

| It i interesting to recall that the
mustat lie something spelled NOUS
tache"l in the infancy of the race was
associated with the ferocity of the
! soldier.
! The French soldiers for centuries
have been very partial TO the muStache
We make no claim for it, but We
wouldn't be surprised If the word
''mouSqueteer,' or muSketeer, came
/ from It,
Recall paintings of Napoleon's gren-
adiers. Every last man of them wore
the mustache. Bonaparte, no doubt
kept himself clean shaver to set him
! self apart. Nearly all of his marShalS
wore long soup strainers." as they ir-
reverently were called during the post
Victorian age.
Tartars and similar warlike peoples
always have specialized in it. No doubt
before civilization every male member
of tribe let his hair come as it would
with the result that whiSkers and
mustacheS had their golden age.
The first man to whet bone sharp
enough to serve as razor started
something, as we say today. Some wag
with a certain cast Of countenance
after taking off all below the mouth,
discovered that what remained above
it served to enhance his personal ap-
pearance.
He was the inventor of the mustache.
X X y y
Today one does not have to be either
a caveman or a soldier to grow q
mustache. 1t is a free -for-all in which
some succeed and some do not. Those
! who fail usually let the merciful razor
do its work in time. Those who achieve
success in the art should never pride
I In oil
cats have splendid muStacheS (called
"whiskers," but they in reality adorn
the feline upper lip.)
There can be little question that the
mustache is coming back in America.
Such things go in waves: the Civil War
found every man with full beard and
muStache: then the safety razor came
into being, and with it went whiSkers
and muStache.
Now the latter is creeping back on
hundreds and thousands Of upper lips.
Look around in the street cars and
buses and in the streets themselves,
and you will note outcroppings where
no hair grew before.
They range all the way from the
slightest sort Of adornment to huge and
bushy ones. They extend from half
inch long to or 4 inches.
Some droop. some are neatly pointed,
CQJ. N1Oob PAClCA
TO see their men with one of the latter.
The square cut is the muStache of Fritz
KreiSler. the eminent violinist, and is
about as good as any. especially for men
who do not specialize in the neat
and dapper. For them the waxed
variety is the best.
II
Ones acquaintanceS usually are di-
vided into two groups at first, those
who invariably say they like 1t and
those who rs invariably declare that
they do not.
Persist, however. and they will all
come around. sooner or later, at least
to tacit consent The comments of the
most obdurate can be no more Scathing
than they would be upon sighting the
shorn upper lip.
My, but you look funny!"
"Haw, haw, so you shaved 1t OFF,"
In favor of the muStache, it may be
stated that It Is the best way for an in
significant man to attract attention to
himself. and for the youthful-looking to
take on an appearance of maturity
Some say that it also acts as a barri.
cade to cold germs. The worst that can
be said against 1t is that It is a nuisance
when eating cuStard.