Our present-day fascination with the facial hair of yore may have behind it a number of reasons: a yearning for the sartorial elegance of by-gone days; an urge to lampoon the historical patriarchal hegemony; the deep-seated instinct, like that found among birdwatchers and trainspotters, to catalogue the varieties of hirsute experience; a lot of spare time and income. Perhaps fitting into more than one category is the Flickr meme Great Moustaches of the Library of Congress. This phenomenon, which has been observed by the New York Times, involves taggers prowling the uploaded offspring of the Prints and Photographs Division for the most outrageous and oft-times graspable extremities of our male ancestry. One perusing Historic Sheet Music, 1800-1922 or Civil War Sheet Music in the Performing Arts Encyclopedia would find no less end to the handlebar goodness.
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That mustache was such a signature look that it seemed to represent much more than a facial style – perhaps some sort of class or personal statement.