Do blacksmiths have a stronger tendency to have beards?

When I first started blacksmithing, my youngest brother (9 or 10 at the time) asked if I was going to be a "real" blacksmith, "with a beard and everything?" !

A comment in another thread reminded me of this.

So, I'm wondering, does a beard go with the craft? What do you think? If it does, why do you think that is?


Luke

No "mustache only" category? I feel discriminated.

Clean shaven (at least every other day... or so) except for the upper lip.


Facial hair, like clothes, will vary greatly according to culture and historic period. I think the image of the necessarily bearded blacksmith comes from post-American Civil War through early Twentieth Century recollections, particularly in the rural areas. In the Civil War you even saw a lot of military officers with facial hair. And don't discount the power of Hollywood stereotypes.

I regularly portray a blacksmith attached to a British garrison in the Colonial period, and I can about guarantee that all of them, from the privates through the officers, would have been clean shaven.
Little pony-tails... yes. Beards, no (Nor mustaches for that matter, but I just can't make myself part with mine... been with me since I was 17.)

My $.02

Don

I have a soul patch and side burns does that count?

No beard here but my teenage daughter refers to blacksmiths as a bunch of old guys with beards.

I would imagine lots of people had beards beck in the old days, due to the potential danger of shaving. one slip of the razor and you get a nasty cut, and it was sure to get infected. In the old days it was just safer to grow a beard. not to mention easier than shaving. to shave you had to well shave, to grow a beard all you had to do was live.

Well *none* of the female blacksmiths I know or have seen in pictures going back through medieval times have had beards.

BTAIM, yes I have a full beard and when it's in full flourish my wife will braid it for me for events and I will hang silver anvil earrings from the braids. It's a bit shy for Quad-State and I may only be able to fork it.

And yes I have had a forge trim it for me on numerous occasions...

I've been lucky in that my "day job" has never had a problem with facial hair. (It's one of the reasons I accepted my current job; when I interviewed 50% of the men I saw were sporting beards!)

I wore a full beard and moustache for about 20 years but it caught fire a few times - on the last occasion I suffered a minor burn. It also tended to catch debris and would not allow face masks to fit well. I shaved it about 10 years ago and would not go back.

I still believe my beard acts like a radiator when Im sweating and helps keep me cool. Though it does have that horrible side effect of soaking up the smells of the day, it can take quite a scrubbing to get the smell of burnt hoof off my face~

I usualy have a biker goatee... its about 7" long at the moment..... Usually when it starts tickling my chest I shave it all off and start over....

"Mustache only" I have a beard during the winter months does keep the face warmer. Shaved the upper lip once and kick myself for it......looked like a little kid. My boys want me to shave it off...don't think so.

I have a goatee also and am working on a half beard now for winter. I too keep it long most of the time. I trim it to the bottom of my welding hood. I have had it long enough that I tuck in my shirt when working to keep it out of the way. At this point it becomes a pain in the XXX when riding the scooter and it is time for a trim. B)

I'm of the full bearded variety. When I started teaching and demonstrating people looked a little disappointed that I wasn't a big narly old chap with a bushy beard; I couldn't do anything about my size or age so I grew a beard! There are other reasons too. It keeps me warm in the winter and (I think) cooler in the summer, though I keep it trimmed to half inch or so when warm.

Full beard, trimmed short. I thought about shaving it off before my first date with my wife (been married 24 years now). Turns out it was a good decision not to shave, she liked it then and now ;-)

Ward

Clean shaved here....job requirement...as soon as I retire..4 1/2 yrs....full beard coming back...had one for many years til employer changed the rules and I had to shave....oh well...glad to have a job.

I haven't shaved or worn a tie since the day I left school and I doubt I could remember how to do either!

I shaved seasonally, winter insulation and summer coolth, then I married Deb and she LIKES the beard! I'm thinkin I look better with more of my mug covered but what the hey, she puts up with plenty from me.

Frosty the Lucky.

When I was in the military I got in the habit of being clean-shaven but I grew a goatee for our town's 125th anniversary celebration in 2009 then shaved it off again. Last winter I regrew it but shaved it off for the summer...not sure if I will grow it back or not. The wife isn't big on me having one but doesn't mind the look when I do have it....just says it tickles too much.

I am clean shaven. It used to be mostley because I didnt have enough facial hair. It seems when you get older and balder the hair moves down! LOL But i did try a beard for the first time last winter. I didnt like it much. Pubic hair belongs in other places on the body. Not on the face. HAHA

Full beard here.

My wife and kids have told me I must have a beard and my wife trims it to what she wants---hey she's the one that has to look at it! Since I don't shave I don't spend much time looking in the mirror...

I have had facial hair of differing lengths & types throughout the years. It's sort of an "on again, off again" thing. Right now I'm growing it back. Full beard this time. I've never thought of it being a "blacksmith thing".
( It does seem to get more grey as the years pass though! LOL )

Mitch

My wife got upset that I shaved once while we were dating. She also disproves of it being too long, so it gets trimmed to very short (1/4 inch), and grows out to about an inch before getting trimmed back. I don't like brushing or combing my goatee and mustache anyways.

Phil

I tend to alternate, between 4-5 weeks clean shaven then let it grow for 4-5 weeks till it gets to that itchy stage, also a pain when pulling my motorbike helmet on and off. My wife quite likes the beard though!

I'm clean-shaven, mostly because I need to have a good seal area for a full face respirator for work AND it is a state (or maybe MIOSHA) law that firefighters must not have facial hair that interferes with the seal of a SCBA mask. Safety first!

A goatee here, ranging from one to two fists long, I have had it for 5 or six years now and haven't shaved it yet. If I ever do I will be tempted to glue it to the top of my head. . . should look fine right?

Has anyone else noticed that when a goatee is trimmed short, say under 1" everyone calls it a goatee, but if it is long everyone calls it a beard? I just find that to be rather amusing.

When it was rather long I would on occasion split it into two and wrap one end around each ear, holding it in place to look like a rather curious full beard! It's fun to have fun.

Caleb Ramsby