The next, and last, group of moustaches are all very similar to me –
the lampshade, painter’s brush, pyramidal and toothbrush – they just involve a
little trimming at the sides, which is sometimes hard to see in photos. Of course the toothbrush is more
recognizable, it's quite thick and shaved to be about an inch wide. The most famous toothbrush moustache is undoubtedly this one:
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| Adolph Hilter with toothbrush moustache |
Around the same time were the comic duo of Laurel
and Hardy, one of the most popular acts of the early Classical Hollywood era of American
cinema. Composed of thin Englishman Stan Laurel (1890–1965) and large
American Oliver Hardy (1892–1957), they became well known during the
late 1920s to the mid-1940s for their slapstick comedy, with Laurel
playing the clumsy and childlike friend of the pompous Hardy, who sported a toothbrush moustache.
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| Laurel and Hardy c. 1930s |
Before Hardy, of course, there was Charlie Chaplin. Although often referred to as a toothbrush moustache, his was actually more pyramidal:
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| Charlie Chaplin in The Circus, 1928 |
His moustache and 'Little Tramp" persona made him more recognisable and shot him to fame, but Chaplin was undoubtedly good looking without it.
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| Charlie Chaplin, sans moustache |
Can you imagine Hitler with his moustache?
During WWI Hilter actually had a much larger moustache. According to a soldier who served alongside Hitler in the trenches, he was instructed to trim his moustache so that it would fit under the respirator masks introduced in response to British
mustard gas attacks.
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| Hitler, far right, with WWI comrades |
Neither the toothbrush or pyramidal
styles seem all that popular at present, probably because they are just so identifiable with the men above, although here is a photo of George Clooney in the movie 'Men who stare at Goats" (2009) with a pyramidal
moustache.
The 'Painter’s brush' is a thick moustache covering the width of the mouth, usually worn short,
with slightly rounded corners, and looks a bit like a short Chevron. Here's a photo of a young Robert Deniro sporting a paintbrush moustache.
And George Orwell, with almost a straight edged paintbrush.
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| George Orwell |
The Lampshade moustache is similar to the “painter’s brush,” but
with corners angled slightly, resembling the shape of a lampshade, and is very hard to find examples of, so excuse me! The Pencil moustache, however, is a different story. This thin, narrow, closely clipped moustache outlines the upper lip and is also sometimes
called a “mouth-brow.” It was very popular in the 1920s and 30s. Here are some examples:
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| A young Vincent Price |
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| Clark Gable c. 1939 |
You could also call the above moustache an 'English', with the gap in the middle.
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| Errol Flynn |
and from the 1950s:
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| David Niven |
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| Little Richard |
The last moustache style is the Walrus, which lives up to its name - a large, bushy, droopy moustache
that hangs down over the lips, often entirely covering the mouth. Very hard to kiss, I would imagine.....
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Nietzsche, Philosopher, 1844-1900
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William Wallace Denslow ( 1856-1915) American designer, illustrator & cartoonist
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Henry Lawson (1867 - 1922) Australian writer and poet, c. 1902.
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So there you have it, the short guide to moustaches. Of course there are many more, and new styles seem to be invented everyday - just look at the 'Batstache'. I think my husband is going towards the paintbrush, but maybe a Chevron if he keeps growing it. He is a little to shy to appear on my blog, but you can check out his Movember page here.
Enjoy the last few days of Movember everyone!
Deb xxx
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