Saturday Morning Beard Fact

In 1810, Baron Ferdinand de Géramb – a general in the Hungarian army and the owner of the most talked-about facial hair in London – began a craze among young dandies in London. Thanks to fashion magazines and newspapers articles, the desire to emulate his looks spread across the country. Other men, especially those in the military, began to wear whiskers with pride – and perhaps with not a little irritations that the Baron’s facial adornments had been singled out for for notice instead of their own. Abnormally large whiskers can be seen over the next couple of decades in portraits of prominent soldiers and trendsetters.

Source: Moustaches, Whiskers & Beards, Lucinda Hawksley