Folklore: Why do folkies have beards

Subject: Folklore: Why do folkies have beards
From: GUEST,Firkin Freddie
Date: 20 Nov 03 - 07:25 PM

Hey, what is it with you folkies and your beards? I was in Whitby this summer for a spot of quiet fishing and all the folkies arrived, they all looked like Harold Shipman Clones!! I saw them again in Trafalger Square during the President's visit, "the great unwashed brigade" When I was a lad, a clean cut complextion was to be admired in a man. The women folk of these beardies also look the same, all frizzy long hair and even hairy armpits!!. Bring back national service, I hear the bugle sound.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Why do folkies have beards
From: GUEST,Ely
Date: 20 Nov 03 - 07:46 PM

I don't know--is it a holdover from the Sixties protest era?

My dad isn't an active musician but he loves music (folk music, all kinds of music). He did graduate field work in Michigan 30 years ago and, if he had a beard, he could feel the bugs coming before they could bite him, but I don't think that's why the majority of folkies have beards. I grew up in Quaker meeting with plenty of bearded men but most of them were Sixties holdovers. Shall we examine photographic documentation--when did folkies start growing beards?

Subject: RE: Folklore: Why do folkies have beards
From: Amos
Date: 20 Nov 03 - 07:48 PM

Aw g'wan. Real folkies have always been beard-wearers as often as not.


A

Subject: RE: Folklore: Why do folkies have beards
From: Joe Offer
Date: 20 Nov 03 - 07:54 PM

It got me into some difficulty last year. I was supposed to meet somebody at Whitby Folk Week, and I described myself as "mid-50's, a bit of a paunch, and a white beard and thinning white hair." Somebody commented that during Folk Week, all the men in Whitby look like that.
It's our uniform, that's why!!!
-Joe Offer-

(Is this really a folklore thread???)

Subject: RE: Folklore: Why do folkies have beards
From: Susanne (skw)
Date: 20 Nov 03 - 07:54 PM

I know plenty who don't have beards: Harvey Andrews, Archie Fisher, Iain Mackintosh, Andy Irvine, Dick Gaughan! Besides, I think it is perfectly possible to have a beard AND look tidy. Harold Shipman is a case in point ...

Subject: RE: Folklore: Why do folkies have beards
From: GUEST,pdq
Date: 20 Nov 03 - 07:56 PM

So their mothers won't recognize them!

Subject: RE: Folklore: Why do folkies have beards
From: GUEST
Date: 20 Nov 03 - 08:11 PM

Um, because I hate to shave?

"Did I shave my beard for this?"

~S~

Subject: RE: Folklore: Why do folkies have beards
From: Clinton Hammond
Date: 20 Nov 03 - 08:17 PM

"When I was a lad, a clean cut complextion was to be admired in a man"

A POX on the eunuch who first invented shaving!

Subject: RE: Folklore: Why do folkies have beards
From: SINSULL
Date: 20 Nov 03 - 08:20 PM

Not by choice. Menopause is a bitch!

Subject: RE: Folklore: Why do folkies have beards
From: Bill D
Date: 20 Nov 03 - 08:20 PM

because I don't like to shave, because I have a long, narrow chin which NEEDS 'softening'.......and because all the women in my life threaten me with terrible things if I shave it...*grin*

Subject: RE: Folklore: Why do folkies have beards
From: Little Hawk
Date: 20 Nov 03 - 08:32 PM

Most male fokies do have beards, but I don't. I never liked them (on me, I mean...they look good on some people). I like being clean shaven all the time, and concentrating on having a good head of hair on top (Bob Dylan style mop/halo). Perhaps I have not gone bald because the hair didn't all migrate to my chin... :-) Getting a few gray ones now, but not bad.

Check out my pics.

- LH

Subject: RE: Folklore: Why do folkies have beards
From: allanwill
Date: 20 Nov 03 - 09:08 PM

As the old saying goes, and in my case it's true, "beards hide funny faces".

Allan

Subject: RE: Folklore: Why do folkies have beards
From: Leadfingers
Date: 20 Nov 03 - 09:08 PM

I HAD to shave every day for fourteen years ( R A F Service ) so when I got promoted to civilian I stopped shaving ( and having my hair cut evrey seven days)   That's my story and I am sticking to it.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Why do folkies have beards
From: Malcolm Douglas
Date: 20 Nov 03 - 09:12 PM

I doubt very much if "most male folkies" have beards. It's another of those silly stereotypes which would be considered racist if applied to identifiable ethnic groups. Consider, for example, these leading questions:

Why are Scotsmen mean?

Why are Irishmen stupid?

Why are Englishmen snobs?

Why are Welshmen dishonest?

Why are Frenchmen smelly?

All of these imply a generally-applicable (and, in context, pejorative) characteristic without offering any evidence to support the assertion: the usual example is "When did you stop beating your wife?"

Generally speaking, men have beards unless they choose to remove them. Facial hair suits some people and not others. It's a fairly pointless subject for a conversation.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Why do folkies have beards
From: momnopp
Date: 20 Nov 03 - 09:12 PM

I prefer my men furry. And what's wrong with hairy armpits? The hair grows there for a REASON, same as all hair. Personally, I don't understand the current American penchant for hair-less-ness; men shaving their heads, women shaving ALL hair that's not on their heads and even men shaving exceptionally sensitive areas...

I'll take a bearded folkie any day! :-)

JudyO

Subject: RE: Folklore: Why do folkies have beards
From: GUEST,ozmacca
Date: 20 Nov 03 - 09:32 PM

Despite the apparent evidence to the contrary, I shave every day. If that razor blade was good enough for my father, and his father before him, then it's good enough for me.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Why do folkies have beards
From: JennyO
Date: 20 Nov 03 - 09:33 PM

I have a bearded folkie around here these days, and very nice he is, too! I can't imagine him without his beard.

Jenny

Subject: RE: Folklore: Why do folkies have beards
From: Bee-dubya-ell
Date: 20 Nov 03 - 09:33 PM

Since The Lord Almighty saw fit in His infinite wisdom to allow the bountious curly locks that once adorned the top of my head to fall out and be swept down the drain-hole, I find that if I wish to experience the miracle known as "hair growth" I have to use my face as the growing ground.

And... I would have a beard whether I was a folkie or not. I could just as easily be a bearded rock-n-roller or a bearded bluesman or a bearded jazzman. It just happens that more of the music that I play tends to fall under the folk umbrella than outside of it so I guess I'm a bearded folkie.

Bruce

Subject: RE: Folklore: Why do folkies have beards
From: Beer
Date: 20 Nov 03 - 09:48 PM

This is a great thread (well maybe not THAT great). I bet guest thought of this over a few joints.
Job Offer: "It's Our Uniform That's Why" What a great line. Hay you song writers pick up on it.
Malcom Douglas: Great Ending
    Beards are not just from the 60's and 70's. Check out our ancestors. Hell they all had beards.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Why do folkies have beards
From: Padre
Date: 20 Nov 03 - 10:08 PM

The wearing of facial hair has gone through cycles, which can easily be seen by looking at portraits of US Presidents:

George Washington NB
John Adams NB
Thomas Jefferson NB
James Madison NB
James Monroe NB
John Qincy Adams NB
Andrew Jackson NB
Martin Van Buren MuttonChops
William Henry Harrison NB
John Tyler NB
James K Polk NB
Zachary Taylor NB
Millard Fillmore NB
James Buchanan NB
Abraham Lincoln B
Andrew Johnson NB
Ulysses S Grant B
Rutherford B Hayes B
James A Garfield B
Chester A Arthur MuttonChops
Grover Cleveland Mustache
Benjamin Harrison B
William McKinley NB
Theodore Roosevelt Mustache
William H Taft Mustache
Woodrow Wilson NB
Warren G Harding NB
Calvin Coolidge NB
Herbert Hoover NB
Franklin Roosevelt NB
Harry Truman NB
Dwight D Eisenhower NB
John Kennedy NB
Lyndon Johnson NB
Richard Nixon NB
Gerald Ford NB
Jimmy Carter NB
Rondald Reagan NB
George Bush NB
Bill Clinton NB
George W Bush NB

Subject: RE: Folklore: Why do folkies have beards
From: Cluin
Date: 20 Nov 03 - 10:24 PM

Testosterone will do that to ya.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Why do folkies have beards
From: Blackcatter
Date: 20 Nov 03 - 10:27 PM

For goodness sake. Why, oh, why is this not listed as BS? At least somebody mention song lyrics!

And Padre, thanks for the historical note, but what cycle are you talking about? I see:

7 NB
1 mutton
6 NB
1 B
1 NB
3 B
1 mutton
1 mustache
1 B
1 NB
2 mustache
16 NB   Where exactly is the cycle?

Subject: RE: Folklore: Why do folkies have beards
From: HuwG
Date: 20 Nov 03 - 10:35 PM

Sorry, Suzanne (skw), but a beardless Andy Irvine ? Possibly on old album covers, but having carried sound and lighting gear for the guy once or twice, I beg to differ.

One might use beards to distinguish the true folkie from the ones that still need day jobs. And among the hirsute, one can also contrast the "Captain Birdseye" set of the shanty-singer from the "Worzel Gummidge" style of the Somerset agricultural song specialist.

Most of the (male) folkies I know have four or five days' growth and resemble Stilton cheese that should have been thrown out last week (though most violinists are clean shaven). I usually wear moustache only See photo. Obviously a lightweight !

Subject: RE: Folklore: Why do folkies have beards
From: Rapparee
Date: 20 Nov 03 - 10:52 PM

Shaving helps me maintain my boyish good looks, my youthful innocence, my childlike sense of wonder. Besides, every time I've tried to grow more than a mustache I've given up because of the coarseness of the stubble.

It's a horrible thing to wake up in the night and find that you chest is all raw and bleeding from the beard you are trying to grow.

Now, I actually don't shave. I do what the loggers do: drive 'em in with a hammer and bite 'em off inside. (Hairballs, however, are becoming a problem recently.)

Subject: RE: Folklore: Why do folkies have beards
From: Amos
Date: 20 Nov 03 - 11:47 PM

Rapaire:

I would expect you'd be scratched twice by your stubble under that regimen!

A

Subject: RE: Folklore: Why do folkies have beards
From: Clinton Hammond
Date: 20 Nov 03 - 11:49 PM

"women shaving ALL hair that's not on their heads and even men shaving exceptionally sensitive areas"

Nothing beats an uncarpeted basement!

:-)

Subject: RE: Folklore: Why do folkies have beards
From: Mooh
Date: 21 Nov 03 - 12:03 AM

Bearded. Lots on unbearded guys (and gals) in Mudcat Photoland though. My kids have never seen me without I think.

Peace, Mooh.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Why do folkies have beards
From: Blackcatter
Date: 21 Nov 03 - 12:05 AM

Rapaire - you're not supposed to SWALLOW the beard hair!

Subject: RE: Folklore: Why do folkies have beards
From: Margret RoadKnight
Date: 21 Nov 03 - 01:13 AM

Always intrigued why people in this scene label others & themselves "Folkies"?
(No wonder the general public can be dismissive of this fantastic genre).
"Jazzies"? "Bluesies"? "Classicies"? - I don't think so!

Subject: RE: Folklore: Why do folkies have beards
From: mouldy
Date: 21 Nov 03 - 01:33 AM

It took me 10 years of "pre-folk" nagging to get his lordship to grow one. He's had the beard for 20 years now, and I used to have nightmares tht he'd shave it off and terrify our youngest, who has never sen her dad without one. He looks better with it, too. He used to joke that when his balding head reached a certain stage, he'd have a facelift.
The other advantage is that you can catch any beer dribbles in it, and collect them before they drip off.

My son informed me last night that he'd grown a goatee over the last 2-3 weeks, but that his skin became very dry and irritated under it, and so he's had to shave it off again. (He's one of these allergic types. He tried water soluble moisturisers from the chemist, but all it did was moisturise the whiskers).

As to why beards are so prevalent amongst the folk circuit - I don't really know. It may be just hearkening back to the "rustic". Any photographs of rural dwellers from the 19th century have quite a high proportion of men with side-whiskers or beards. Anything earlier is second hand, via an artist's (sometimes idealised) interpretation. At one time, in some cultures, the beard was supposedly the badge of the barbarian!

Andrea

Subject: RE: Folklore: Why do folkies have beards
From: ossonflags
Date: 21 Nov 03 - 03:07 AM

As in the navy, we dont grow beards we just stop shaving.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Why do folkies have beards
From: ossonflags
Date: 21 Nov 03 - 03:11 AM

And in answer to an earlier thread, what is wrong with hairy armpits? you dont shave your arse do you?

Subject: RE: Folklore: Why do folkies have beards
From: Dave Masterson
Date: 21 Nov 03 - 03:45 AM

I was at a Morris Ring meeting years ago attended by about 250 dancers and overhead the following conversation -
"Have you seen so-and-so?"
"What's he look like?"
"Oh, you know, white shirt and a beard."
White shirt and a beard at a Ring meeting..............

Subject: RE: Folklore: Why do folkies have beards
From: Roger the Skiffler
Date: 21 Nov 03 - 03:50 AM

...and strangely, whereas the jazz audience has always been prone to beards, full-on for traddies and goatees for modernists, the blues audience tends to be clean-shaven (though the bald forehead and ponytail look is still, [unwisely, IMHO]favoured by some).

RtS
(handsomely* cleanshaven)

*A lawyer writes:this contravenes the Trades description Act

Subject: RE: Folklore: Why do folkies have beards
From: Dave Bryant
Date: 21 Nov 03 - 05:02 AM

My beard hides a multitude of chins.

At one of the Bracknell "Handsome Mouldiwarp" Folk Festivals there was a prize for correctly challenging "Frank Ignobody" who was a character in a wonderful cartoon strip "Borfolk" which Lawrence Heath used to produce for "Southern Rag" the predecessor of "Folk Roots". The picture of a bearded folkie would have fitted over half of the fellows - and quite a few of ladies as well !

I can understand why some women do feel it neccessary to depilate their arms, legs, upper lips etc - more than a light down on these areas is thought to be unfeminine. Genital and underarm hair are normal after puberty for both sexes and I see no reason to think of them as at all unattractive and definitely not unfeminine in women (rather the reverse in fact). If a woman wants to look like a little girl why doesn't she have mastectomies as well ?

Subject: RE: Folklore: Why do folkies have beards
From: GUEST,Clint Keller
Date: 21 Nov 03 - 05:15 AM

In the Army I had to get a haircut weekly and shave twice a day.

The hell with it.

clint

Subject: RE: Folklore: Why do folkies have beards
From: Dani
Date: 21 Nov 03 - 07:47 AM

Because they look good!

But our own Kendall is another fine and handsome example of the exception. There are plenty, but I do think it seems to be a folky thing.

Maybe as a group (grossly over-exaggerated) they're just a little less concerned with what others think of how they look, and how long it takes to make yourself fit another's mold? Lord, think of the singing we could do if we weren't shaving, and the whiskey we could buy instead of razors!

A pox on him AND her who started shaving. It's probably the guy who invented nylon stockings.

One thing I wondered while watching the otherwise admirable Master and Commander movie was how in the hell those guys (who were OLD enough) mananged to stay so cleanshaven on board that rollicking ship with straight-razors?!

Dani

Subject: RE: Folklore: Why do folkies have beards
From: Peterr
Date: 21 Nov 03 - 07:56 AM

Before I got into folk, I did a lot of caving and climbing (late 60s-70s) and it was beards then. Something to do with the mindset, though I didn't grow one to have the uniform. My daughter now 24 has seen me twice without a beard. First time she was about 5, burst into tears and wouldn't come near me until it grew back.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Why do folkies have beards
From: the lemonade lady
Date: 21 Nov 03 - 08:02 AM

Why do folkies have beards? Because they have more sense than to stand in front of a mirror scraping their faces. Why on earth do you beardless guys do it anyway?

(please note I am a woman and beardless)

Sal

Subject: RE: Folklore: Why do folkies have beards
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 21 Nov 03 - 08:24 AM

There are some people who shave the hair off the top of their heads every day. They are often considered a little bit eccentric for doing this, since the more customary procedure is to let it grow to a less or greater extent and then trim it.

I've never understood why the attitude towards hair at the top end of the head is different from that towards hair at the lower end.

Incidentally - do men ever go bald in the beard area?

Subject: RE: Folklore: Why do folkies have beards
From: Bill D
Date: 21 Nov 03 - 10:03 AM

I'm sure there are men whose jobs insist on shaving...implicitly, if not explicitly. I also think that men whose taste runs to folk music and the social whirl THAT entails, 'tend' to not have the kind of jobs that require shaving (and 3 piece suits..etc.) And as noted, guys who have endured military rules for a few years often quit shaving as soon as they're out!

As to presidents, it seems to me that the decline of beards roughly parallels the introduction of photography, easy travel via train & airplane, movies, and finally... TV. The candidates can easily be seen now, and are afraid to do ANYTHING which might affect their 'image'. Remember how much comment there was about Al Gore temporarily growing a beard, even after the election?

One thing about MY shaving is that I tend to get irritation and ingrown hairs just below the chin, thus the faily uncommon muttonchop style...every now & then I let the center grow, and I am always sorry...

And regarding shaving other areas of the body...it has been theorized that genital & armpit hair were retained during evolution as ways to retain and concentrate pheromones and served to enhance sexual awareness. (My ex-wife years ago specifically preferred me in that state between "scrubbed clean" and "overripe") [a delicate balance]......But now that western society and the advertising industry promotes daily scrubbing away of any trace of 'natural' odor, and modern swim suits have been reduced to a few square inches..*grin*, what chance do those poor, embattled nether locks have?

Subject: RE: Folklore: Why do folkies have beards
From: muppett
Date: 21 Nov 03 - 10:12 AM

I had a beard in my early folkie days, as I didn't have much money I found my beard a useful way of storing food in it, so didn't have to leave the pub to go for a meal !!!!!!!!

Subject: RE: Folklore: Why do folkies have beards
From: EBarnacle
Date: 21 Nov 03 - 10:17 AM

One time, many years ago, I was interviewing for a job with the Army. The Interviewer asked whether I was very attached to the beard. My response: It grows on me. end of interview.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Why do folkies have beards
From: GUEST
Date: 21 Nov 03 - 12:43 PM

folkie beards... love them !

Subject: RE: Folklore: Why do folkies have beards
From: GUEST,Les B.
Date: 21 Nov 03 - 12:47 PM

I'm reminded of what my uncle said to me on seeing my first attempt at a beard - "Jesus Christ, why are you cultivating on your upper lip what grows wild around your asshole ?!?"

Subject: RE: Folklore: Why do folkies have beards
From: Doug Chadwick
Date: 21 Nov 03 - 12:53 PM

Real men wear beards, drink cider and make their own dresses.


I have a beard for medical reasons - clinical ugliness


Doug C

Subject: RE: Folklore: Why do folkies have beards
From: GUEST,pdq
Date: 21 Nov 03 - 01:11 PM

This thread provides more evidence that Jerry Garcia was a Folkie!

Subject: RE: Folklore: Why do folkies have beards
From: GUEST,Tunesmith
Date: 21 Nov 03 - 01:25 PM

When people ask me why I have a beard-which I don't at the moment - I always turn the question around and ask why most men don't have beards. Having a beard is, after all, a more natural state because to not have a beard entails a conscious decision to shave very day.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Why do folkies have beards
From: GUEST
Date: 21 Nov 03 - 02:26 PM

Surely the reason is because kissing a man without a beard is like eating an egg without salt.

Dave
www.collectors.folk.co.uk

Subject: RE: Folklore: Why do folkies have beards
From: Clinton Hammond
Date: 21 Nov 03 - 02:43 PM

Ya kissed a lot of men with and without beards Dave?

heh

Subject: RE: Folklore: Why do folkies have beards
From: the lemonade lady
Date: 21 Nov 03 - 02:58 PM

Now now, boys!

Subject: RE: Folklore: Why do folkies have beards
From: Peace
Date: 21 Nov 03 - 03:15 PM

They don't have beards. You're lookin' at the wrong end!

Subject: RE: Folklore: Why do folkies have beards
From: M.Ted
Date: 21 Nov 03 - 04:45 PM

Folkies aren't the only ones--rock n' rollers have beards too! Look at ZZ Top--two guys with beards and one guy named Beard--

Subject: RE: Folklore: Why do folkies have beards
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 21 Nov 03 - 04:45 PM

Why do British folkies have beards should be the question. In all the years that I ran a concert series over here, it was unsual for a flokie to have a beard. Art Thieme had one, and so did Bill Staines but right off hand, not a single other American performer I booked comes to mind who had a beard. There must have been a couple others, but I bet 90% of the male folksingers I booked over here didn't have a beard.

Beardless Jerry... if you'd ever seen me in a mangey beard you would have no further questions.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Why do folkies have beards
From: GUEST,Andy Murphy
Date: 21 Nov 03 - 05:34 PM

I reckon it was started by the Dubliners. They appeared on top of the pops in the early sixties with long hair and beards and even the Beatles were shocked

Subject: RE: Folklore: Why do folkies have beards
From: Don Firth
Date: 21 Nov 03 - 05:58 PM

A number of times I decided to grow a beard, but it never lasted for more than three days. Except once. Around 1980 or so, when I was working for the phone company (Ma Bell), I grew one and had it for about a year and a half. It was okay for awhile, but from time to time the damned thing would start to itch. I had to shampoo it every day and it got to be more of a hassle than shaving. Food was always getting caught in it (a bit of mayo or mustard from a sandwich, a bread crumb or two, a dab of egg yolk that dripped off my fork, that sort of thing), and to keep from grossing people out (or attracting flies) I had to scrupulously check my face in a mirror with ridiculous frequency (which, in itself, can be traumatic).

Finally, one Saturday morning we're eating hotcakes. When syrup drizzled into it for the third time, I decided, "Okay, that's it!!" After breakfast I shaved it off, revealing a face that was red and irritated. And very itchy. Then I developed what looked like dandruff on my bare face. For a couple of weeks, after I shaved and washed my face, my beard area was red as a beet, and after a few hours, dry scale would start flaking off. It finally went away. Except now and then it still comes back. But even so, it felt good to have a clean face again. Maybe beards work for some guys, but not for me. It looked pretty good, but for me, it was a royal pain in the face.

A year after I shaved it off, my supervisor at the phone company looked at me kinda funny and said, "Gee, Don, when did you shave off your beard?"

Don (barefaced) Firth

Subject: RE: Folklore: Why do folkies have beards
From: Catherine Jayne
Date: 21 Nov 03 - 05:58 PM

Being a female folkie I don't have a beard and I have to say I am one of those females that removes all hair that isn't on my head.....I even take a razor to festivals but thats the sort of person I am!!!!!

As far as men go.....I've kissed men with and without beards and with 'designer stubble' I like either but the designer stubble tends to give you a rash!!!

Subject: RE: Folklore: Why do folkies have beards
From: GUEST,Gareth
Date: 21 Nov 03 - 06:39 PM

When you are standing on a railway platform in Whitstable, in mid winter, before dawn with a Nor Easter blowing in. Well you grow a beard.

The last time it was shaved ( 1989 ) we raised £400.00 for the Royal National Lifeboat Institution.

And if that ain't reason to have a beard, well, what is !!

Gareth

Subject: RE: Folklore: Why do folkies have beards
From: Joybell
Date: 21 Nov 03 - 06:59 PM

Well I've shaved hundreds of old men in my time as a nurse and I can tell you that shaving wrinkled, paper-thin old skin is hard going. My idea of a Heavenly hospital is wards full of bearded men. And old faces look better with a bit of decoration. Pity hairy faces are not so attractive on us ladies.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Why do folkies have beards
From: Clinton Hammond
Date: 21 Nov 03 - 07:31 PM

"Food was always getting caught in it"

Eating is when the food goes -in- your mouth...

Subject: RE: Folklore: Why do folkies have beards
From: YorkshireYankee
Date: 21 Nov 03 - 10:14 PM

There are several reasons (at least) which occur to me:

1) As Dani pointed out, people into folk music tend to be a tad unconventional; less worried than many about conforming to societies' ideas of how one should look.

2) A lot of folkies' formative years were during the 60s & 70s, when not conforming to society's expectations was "the thing to do" (which begs the question whether or not all us "non-conformists" are actually conforming -- just to a different standard -- but let's not go into that...)

3) Bill D mentions that a lot of men have jobs with written and/or unwritten expectations of a clean-shaven appearance by male employees, but that many male folkies tend to have jobs where this is not so much of an issue. I would guess (though I don't have any facts/figures to back this up) that a majority of folkies are very well educated, which might have something to do with why folkie guys have the kind(s) of jobs that allow a bit more freedom concerning personal appearance.

This discussion reminds me of a story told me by a fellow on the (co-ed) Morris side I used to belong to (Ann Arbor Morris & Sword, in case anyone from A2 is reading this). A reporter from the local paper came out to interview the team for some event. She looked around, evidently noticed all the beards, and asked if a beard was a requirement for being on the Morris team.

"Only for the men," they told her...

Cheers,

YY

Subject: RE: Folklore: Why do folkies have beards
From: Gurney
Date: 22 Nov 03 - 01:49 AM

I had a beard before I was 18, tender skin, stiff whiskers = pimples. Haven't been without one for more than a day or so since, except when the Army insisted. Went the poppie/jazzie/skifflie/folkie route, so I was a beardie before a folkie. Her Indoors has only seen me barefaced once, and threw my razor away.
I'm a negative Little Hawk, follically challenged on top.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Why do folkies have beards
From: Seaking
Date: 22 Nov 03 - 02:14 AM

I've never understood why head and face hair will continue to grow unchecked but seems to know when to stop growing everywhere else - to avoid a tripping hazard maybe ?

Subject: RE: Folklore: Why do folkies have beards
From: Amos
Date: 22 Nov 03 - 03:55 AM

Maybe it wears off from friction other places? The amount of information packed into our chromosomes is bloody incredibobble.

A

Subject: RE: Folklore: Why do folkies have beards
From: GUEST,The O'Meara
Date: 22 Nov 03 - 08:04 AM

As pointed out above, in order to have a beard a male needs to do nothing whatsoever, but in order to not have a beard he must scrape his face with a piece of sharp metal every day. So the real question is: why do some men not have beards?

So here's the answer. Shaving became popular among the soldiers of Alexander the Great because he was the greatest leader any of them knew about and they were his followers. Alexander shaved because he was queer as a three-dollar bill and wanted to have a more femminine face. (My theory, anyway.) So shaving became "femminine" (submissive.)Since shaving became a mark of submission, willing to abide by the rules, beards, then, became symbols of rebellion and outlawry. The word "Barbarian" means hairy-face and indicates one who lives outside civilised society.

Beards also indicate masculinity, or agression.In medieval times serfs were clean shaven, knights had a mustache, princes a short beard and kings a large woolly growth, being the most masculine, virile, s.o.b. on the block. (See portraits of Henry VIII.)

All that carries over into today's world. Beards around the corporate conference table are exceedingly rare, but fairly common among mountain men, outlaw bikers and folkies. Yah?

(Except for my time in the Army, I have always had a beard - it never occurred to me not to.)

O'Meara

Subject: RE: Folklore: Why do folkies have beards
From: Tam the Bam (Nutter)
Date: 22 Nov 03 - 08:14 AM

I don't mind the men having beards, but some of the women naw.

(Only kidding women folk singers/musicains)

Subject: RE: Folklore: Why do folkies have beards
From: Joe_F
Date: 22 Nov 03 - 10:23 AM

"Alexander the Great thought that the beards of the soldiery afforded convenient handles for the enemy to lay hold of, preparatory to cutting off their heads; and, with a view of depriving them of this advantage, he ordered the whole of his army to be closely shaven."
-- Charles Mackay, "Influence of Politics and Religion on the Hair and Beard", in _Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds_ (2nd ed., 1852)

There is a good deal of other curious information in that little chapter -- indeed, in the entire book, which is available online at
http://www.econlib.org/library/Mackay/macEx.html

I have had my beard since 1965, without interruption.

Let me close with the advice in Samuel Butler's _Hudibras_, with which that chapter opens:

...Speak with respect and honour
Both of the beard and the beard's owner.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Why do folkies have beards
From: GUEST,pdq
Date: 22 Nov 03 - 11:21 AM

"In this world of toil and sin, you head gets bald but not your chin" - Burna Shave

Subject: RE: Folklore: Why do folkies have beards
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 22 Nov 03 - 12:07 PM

The odd thing is, gorillas and chimps are hairy enough, but they don't grow beards. Nor do most other animals, aside from goats.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Why do folkies have beards
From: Menolly
Date: 22 Nov 03 - 12:17 PM

I have to admit I would far rather cuddle up to a beard than a nasty scratch five o'clock shadow. I dislike getting a rash from a scratchy chin - if one ever comes that close ! :-)

Subject: RE: Folklore: Why do folkies have beards
From: Don Firth
Date: 22 Nov 03 - 02:34 PM

Another theory as to why Alexander shaved was that early on, people said of him, "He has accomplished so much, and yet he is only a beardless youth!" It stroked his ego, so he shaved to maintain his youthful appearance in hopes that they'd keep saying it.

Checked your beard for groceries lately, Clinton?

Don Firth

Subject: RE: Folklore: Why do folkies have beards
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 22 Nov 03 - 04:02 PM

Looks like my observation about folkie beards being a British thing is pretty much corroborated. Any idea why beards are more common on British folkies than Amurican ones?

Jerry

Subject: RE: Folklore: Why do folkies have beards
From: GUEST,pdq
Date: 22 Nov 03 - 04:16 PM

Let's see. Dave Van Ronk, Eric von Schmidt, at least two members of Peter, Paul and Mary, Stan Rogers, Bob Gibson (at one time), Mark Spoelstra, Dave Grisman, Barry Kornfeld, Shel Silverstein, Artie Traum, Bruce Langhorne, Bob Dylan (at one time), Frank Hamilton, Pete Seeger, etc., etc., etc. Maybe it is just normal for Southern Christian types NOT to have beards?

Subject: RE: Folklore: Why do folkies have beards
From: Clinton Hammond
Date: 22 Nov 03 - 04:20 PM

" Checked your beard for groceries lately, Clinton? "

It's eating... it's not rocket science... Monkeys can do it...

Subject: RE: Folklore: Why do folkies have beards
From: Alice
Date: 22 Nov 03 - 04:44 PM

If I kiss a man, I want to feel the smooth skin of his cheek and chin, I want to see his features, not the beard (no offense to you whiskered ones).

Subject: RE: Folklore: Why do folkies have beards
From: Joybell
Date: 22 Nov 03 - 05:16 PM

Aussies, we haven't said anything about Aussie Folkies. At a recent folk festival I noted the beards because I was searching for Giok. I found that the folkies playing Australian Bush music, mostly had beards, wonderful ones - all types, bushy and trim. One friend has the most amazing mustache which he carefully curls upward. The Bluegrass musicians, and the Blues players, were cleanshaven. My true-love (American - White blues/Traditional American) is currently doing the Lincoln look - no mustache and a neat beard. The others were a mixed bunch but most had beards.
It was unseasonally cold so I couldn't see any female armpits.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Why do folkies have beards
From: Joe_F
Date: 22 Nov 03 - 06:51 PM

My impression from NEFFA festivals is that in America as well, folkies are more often bearded than the general run of men. However, in recent years the distinction has gotten fuzzed out, so to speak, by a fashion among the young for funny little beards. Even some of the folkies have those.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Why do folkies have beards
From: Cap't Bob
Date: 22 Nov 03 - 10:13 PM

For many, many years I had no beard. I'd start the morning by lathering up, scraping my face with a sharp blade (as others in this thread have pointed out) and then covering all of the bleeding spots with a tiny piece of toilet paper to help stop the bleeding. Often when the paper was removed the bleeding would resume and the process would have to be repeated.   Sometimes, in a hurry the shaving stick would be used causing an unpleasant stinging sensation. Also at times during the summer I'd develop a rash under my chin.   

After growing a beard I noticed that it was possible to skip the blood bath and enjoy a few extra minutes enjoying breakfast. Time for a second cup of coffee etc.   

Spending a great deal of time outside over the years often in the sun, I developed numerous skin cancers. They were mainly pre cancers and only one had to be surgically removed. The dermatologists told me that it was probably a good thing that I had a beard.

While sailing I try to sail a course that will put me in the shade of the sails. If that's not possible I face away from the sun. Doing this I frequently got sun burn on the back of my neck. Hmmm, remembering the comments of the dermatologists I decided to grow long hair on the back of my head. It seemed to do the trick and I'd planned to cut it of in the winter. Then, while working in the woods I noticed that hair actually helped warm the back of my neck. Well, now you have a bearded, long haired hippy, eh?   Oh yea, I play folk music to boot.

Cap't Bob

Subject: RE: Folklore: Why do folkies have beards
From: Gurney
Date: 23 Nov 03 - 12:17 AM

Joe_F, wouldn't you say that anyone who is involved in a hand-to-hand battle who grabs an opponant's beard is asking for the stab in the gut he will surely get? That Charles MacKay sounds like an armchair warrior. Anyone with the mentality of a cockroach of a would surely use his shield arm for his shield.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Why do folkies have beards
From: Don Firth
Date: 23 Nov 03 - 12:48 PM

Clinton, it's not a matter of targeting your own mouth with a fork (an easy task for most normal folks). That's not the problem. Gravity happens. Basic cosmology. Think about it. It is rocket science.

Don Firth

Subject: RE: Folklore: Why do folkies have beards
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 23 Nov 03 - 01:10 PM

"...Monkeys can do it..."

But as I pointed out, monkeys don't generally have beards.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Why do folkies have beards
From: GUEST,Tony minus cookie
Date: 23 Nov 03 - 06:38 PM

I always found shaving a painful experience. Also the opportunities for washing let alone shaving are limited at a serious folk festival (or on an extended bushwalk) - in Australia at any rate - and most women seem to prefer a beard to the hedgehog effect of a day or two's growth.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Why do folkies have beards
From: GUEST,Topcat
Date: 23 Nov 03 - 07:47 PM

Well done everyone, and not just defensive males but the ladies have excelled themselves with appraisal of their preferences. I think Yorkshire Yankee produced a sound explanation of the "retro-beards" who took up the anarchic cause in the mid sixties and one rebelled by alternative dress code and facial hair. There is of course many aspects of image defining cults,tattoos are an obvious diversity,and
rarely seen amongst folkies.Bald oiled heads and wobbly flab and beefcake present equally with work-out weight trimmed bodies in the heavy metal fraternity. The executive and "clean cut" image of the white collar worker again defines what we expect. I recently had a stay in hospital and the young registrar who breezed into my pre-op room was a cool,hip dude who bedecked with pony tail and facial piercings did give me an identity crisis. We are after all tribal in our need for social acceptance. Image after all is everthing!.
This thread has provided some unusual and illuminating insights into the perceptions of a broad focus group.
Thanks to all
Topcat

Subject: RE: Folklore: Why do folkies have beards
From: Naemanson
Date: 23 Nov 03 - 07:51 PM

Because we're too lazy (or busy) to shave.

By the by, I grew mine before I became a folkie. I have been bearded since 1972 (or maybe 1973). I had to spend most of a year clean shaven for a job in 1981 but have kept my chin properly covered since then.

Mind you, I did shave my head earlier this year. But it was too much effort to keep it so. See first remark above, i.e., too lazy!

Subject: RE: Folklore: Why do folkies have beards
From: Melani
Date: 24 Nov 03 - 01:46 AM

Beards are sexy. End of discussion.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Why do folkies have beards
From: Gurney
Date: 24 Nov 03 - 02:24 AM

Melani, on behalf of hirsute folkies, thank you for that opinion.

Or do you mean they are sex-specific, like bicycles?
(I just realised that that dates me!)

Subject: RE: Folklore: Why do folkies have beards
From: Joe_F
Date: 24 Nov 03 - 02:25 PM

Gurney: I have no experience with hand-to-hand combat, and cannot guess how I would counter a man with my beard in one hand (it's a short beard, so it would take a strong finger grip; he would do better to grab my head hair) and a sword in the other. Mackay cites no source for his statement, and it is indeed a plausible guess that he was repeating folklore.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Why do folkies have beards
From: Blackcatter
Date: 24 Nov 03 - 07:24 PM

I stopped shaving 9 years ago - didn't seem like there was any point. Stopped having my hair hacked off 6 years ago - once again, didn't seem to be any point.

Prior to that, I was probably spending $100-$120 a year on haircuts and $60 or so on shaving products. I now have a good pair of scissors that keep my hair in control and a $30 beard trimmer that's going strong for nearly a decade. I've saved probably 50 hours a year by not shaving and occaasionally trimming (do that a few minutes once a week for the parts of the face I still like hair-limited and every couple weeks I spend 10 minutes trimming) and 6 hours a year getting my hair cut.

I've saved approx. $1,100 so far. And figuring that my awake time is worth an average of $10 an hour, total it all up and I'm looking at a grand total of about $5,500 over the past 9 years that I've been able to use for things.

So why does much of mainstream America consider me odd?

Subject: RE: Folklore: Why do folkies have beards
From: GUEST,Vidal
Date: 24 Nov 03 - 07:42 PM

Because they're worth it....

Subject: RE: Folklore: Why do folkies have beards
From: Cluin
Date: 24 Nov 03 - 11:25 PM

Well, as long as there's some theorosophizin' about beards goin' on here, I'll through my Canadian 2 bits ($0.19 US as of noon today) into the kitty.

Considering it takes some pretty good quality metal to hold an edge suitable for shaving, it was probably a costly item in the old days. The cost of the apparatus, combined with the amount of "leisure time" needed to perform the act of shaving, likely meant the option was out of the hands of the poor. So maybe a clean-shaven face, or even moreso, a stylishly shaven facial hair arrangement like a goatee or vandyck, etc. which took more time than just shaving the whole thing off, may have been seen in the beginning as advertising that you were well enough off to be able to shave at all.

Then came the commercialization of shaving... the mass-producing of shaving implements like razors, brushes, lather, lotions, etc. And the advertising of beardlessness, the clean-shaven look being more hygenic and preferable. It was presented as being cleaner ("cleanliness is next to godliness") at a time when bathing more often came into vogue. Spas were springing up all over Europe in a "let's get clean" health craze, due to the discovery of "germs" by medical science. It also helped to sell razors and you could further distance your image from the backwoods dirty rustics who commonly spoerted unkmpt beards. Of course this produced an intellectual backlash and many grew facial hair in defiance of the fashion of the times. But of course they were kept trimmed and clean.

Now today, many still think of beards as being dirt-catchers, food&drink catchers, skin-blemish-hiders and generally less clean, young&healthy looking than those with a more clean-cut visage. This in a day when, if you don't shower at least once daily, you're considered a pig.

So why do folkies have beards?

I think it's because they don't like shaving.



p.s. Clinton, why would a eunuch need to invent shaving?

Subject: RE: Folklore: Why do folkies have beards
From: Blackcatter
Date: 25 Nov 03 - 12:05 AM

p.s. Clinton, why would a eunuch need to invent shaving?

Maybe it's sorta like working in the garden in winter. It reminds you of better times.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Why do folkies have beards
From: GUEST
Date: 25 Nov 03 - 09:04 AM

The only cleanliness problem I have with my facial hair is mustache drip. Dairy queen swirly cones are the worst. Spaghetti sauce is a close second. Darlin' Wife says I should find out what I'll be eating at my next meal and wear clothes that color.

O'Meara

Subject: RE: Folklore: Why do folkies have beards
From: Cluin
Date: 25 Nov 03 - 11:45 AM

Then there's the fun of snapping off the icicles from the moustache after coming in from shovelling the driveway on a really cold day.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Why do folkies have beards
From: IanC
Date: 25 Nov 03 - 12:18 PM

As a relative youth, I was one of the 'Owd 'Oss Mummers (Nottingham, England). We spent quite a few weekends in the summer camping at various folk festivals and other events where we performed. In the mornings, I would shave in the usual fashion with a safety razor.

One morning, while doing this, I was subjected to a running commentary from my colleagues, which went something like this.

"What's he doing?" ... "Don't know - perhaps it's some peculiar ritual - I saw him do it yesterday." ... "Look, he's rubbing soap all over his face, then he's got some kind of knife and he's scraping it off again." ... "Don't stare, he probably belongs to some wierd religious sect." ... "Most peculiar."

Whilst I ignored them at the time, I thought about it and realised that there was something innately peculiar about this kind of behaviour, even when carried out in the privacy of your own bathroom, so I stopped doing it.

Oddly enough, that's all it takes to have a beard. You don't even have to grow one.

:-)

Subject: RE: Folklore: Why do folkies have beards
From: Schantieman
Date: 25 Nov 03 - 12:59 PM

Hear hear!

I grew my first beard - sorry, stopped shaving for a bit - at the age of 17 during the summer holiday. When I turned up at school for Rugby training the day before term began in September the master-in-charge was less than impressed! It's been on and off since then - even a 'Zapata' moustache while at University - but I reckon it's here to stay. What's the point in shaving?!!

I also echo the points above about sailing, saving time - and sore faces!

Fuzz-faces of the world unite - you have nothing to lose but your razors.

Steve

Subject: RE: Folklore: Why do folkies have beards
From: bill\sables
Date: 25 Nov 03 - 01:02 PM

Having a beard keeps me slim. I don't eat ceram cakes because the cream tended to squish out onto my beard.
Bill

Subject: RE: Folklore: Why do folkies have beards
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 25 Nov 03 - 01:46 PM

Why do Iraqi men all grow moustaches?
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Cos they want to look like their Mother!
,,,
,,,
That's it, the PC police will be after me now!
Giok

Subject: RE: Folklore: Why do folkies have beards
From: beardedbruce
Date: 25 Nov 03 - 03:28 PM

... and why would I want to take a sharp knife to my secondary sexual charactoristics?

Subject: RE: Folklore: Why do folkies have beards
From: Gurney
Date: 26 Nov 03 - 04:42 AM

Giok, on behalf of the non-PC silent (Well, fairly) majority...

Did you hear the crack that was going around about the meeting of Saddam's body doubles?

"Well, lads, you will be glad to hear that our beloved leader survived the dastardly attempt on his life!!!
The bad news is that he lost an arm...."

Can't remember where I heard it. Maybe even here.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Why do folkies have beards
From: Splott Man
Date: 26 Nov 03 - 07:53 AM

It could be an age thing, i.e. that was the trend in our college days. I was watching a video of the Old Grey Whistle Test from 1973 last night:
Bob Harris - full beard
The Who - 2 out of 4
John Martin - full beard
Bob Marley & Wailers - several wispy beards and a thin tash
Average White Band - 2 out of 6
Clifford T Ward - only 1, but the rest of his band looked too young yet
Sensational Alex Harvey Band - exceptionally all clean shaven
Rory Gallagher - 2 lots of mutton chops out of 4

I can't think of a band from that time that didn't have at least one beard in it.

Go on then, come up with a whole list to prove me wrong!

:-)>

Subject: RE: Folklore: Why do folkies have beards
From: PoppaGator
Date: 26 Nov 03 - 12:32 PM

After fooling around with goatees, sideburns, moustaches, etc., during my college years (65-69), I quit shaving completely after the final summer that I lived at my parents' house.

I was working in a factory downstairs from where my mother worked in the office. She drove back and forth, and was insistent that I be freshly clean-shaven each morning. Fair enough. Later, she would forbid me to sit at the dinner table because my face was purportedly dirty -- "Go wash your face before you sit at this table!" I would comply, and she would insist that I hadn't scrubbed hard enough. It didn't take long for me to realize that I would have to shave -- for a second time each day! -- to pass her inspection.

I had (and still have) a very pale white complexion, plus a heavy and completely black beard (which has faded to gray by now), so I tended to have a "five o'clock shadow" before lunchtime every day. (Not unlike the late Richard Nixon, one of my least-favorite public figures at the time.)

Needless to say, at the end of that summer when I left for one last year of schooling and then to be off on my own, there was no razor blade among my personal effects.

A couple of years later, I was arrested for draft evasion and would up spending about 11 months as a non-combatant conscientious objector in the US Army, wherein daily shaving was unavoidable. Again, as soon as I was out from under authoritarian rule, I quit shaving and let all my facial hair grow.

I the mid-80s, a partner and I went into business, and as a concession to commercial culture I started shaving my neck and about a square inch on each cheek, giving the full beard a more defined shape and cleaner appearance. I have continued this practice to this day. I can get away with shaving 2-3 times a week (especially since the stubble is not nearly as dark as it used to be.)

I also generally run an electric trimmer over the beard once a week, keeping it about a half-inch long. Since I've begun working/playing as Santa Claus each year, however, I've quit the trimming regime each autumn to grow a longer beard for the holiday season. Last year was my first year; I got the job in early October and quit trimming right away.

This year, I got an earlier start on lengthening my whiskers; my last trim was Labor Day weekend (first weekend of September). The long beard is bugging me like crazy! I don't rememeber being bothered in the least 20-30 years ago, when I let my beard grow indescriminantly, but after keeping it relatively short for so many years, the unaccustomed length is driving me nuts. I might add that it has always been very kinky, and it's impossible to get a comb through it without pulling a few hairs out by the roots! This must be what so many black folks have to put up with their head-hair, and why braids, dreads, and shaven heads are so popular among those of African ancestry.

So, that's everything I have to say about beards, or about my beard anyway. The next quesiton, I suppose, is: Am I a folkie? Maybe not -- but if not, what the hell am I doing here?

Subject: RE: Folklore: Why do folkies have beards
From: GUEST,heir today goon tomorrow
Date: 27 Nov 03 - 07:43 PM

Like the darkeness hirsuteness is a natural state to be in.... it's what happens naturally

I remember my days in Bolton when we were reclaiming the right to walk over t' Winter 'Ill - many days we would spend looking for a pub to have a shave but none could be found - we all grew beards - the lads looked rite bonney.

Girt..

Subject: RE: Folklore: Why do folkies have beards
From: GUEST,The O'Meara
Date: 28 Nov 03 - 07:51 AM

There was an old man named Michael Finnegan
He had whiskers on his chin again
He shaved them off but they grew back in again
Poor old MIchael Finnegan. Begin again

There was an old man named..... (etc.)

O'Meara

Subject: RE: Folklore: Why do folkies have beards
From: JennyO
Date: 28 Nov 03 - 09:40 AM

I looked around the circle at the session last night on the James Craig, and counted 12 men, 11 of them with beards. 'Nuff said!

Jenny

Subject: RE: Folklore: Why do folkies have beards
From: Morris-ey
Date: 28 Nov 03 - 10:11 AM

Because they are lazy.

Complete (bodily) hairlessness can be very erotic, for a time, then hairyness becomes the turn on. Variety is the spice of life etc.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Why do folkies have beards
From: GUEST,Trimmed Bearded one
Date: 28 Nov 03 - 10:17 AM

Morris-sey - Not true - It takes me far more time shaving around my beard and trimming it than it would do if I didn't have one - I know some let their hairy growths run wild - others don't

Not all "Bearded" ones are lazy - an I object to you saying that they are!


Mary

Subject: RE: Folklore: Why do folkies have beards
From: GUEST,clean as a babies.....
Date: 29 Nov 03 - 10:41 AM

Mary????

Subject: RE: Folklore: Why do folkies have beards
From: Don Firth
Date: 29 Nov 03 - 01:02 PM

Menopause. . . ?

Don Firth

Subject: RE: Folklore: Why do folkies have beards
From: Cluin
Date: 29 Nov 03 - 01:51 PM

My beard is pretty coarse and wiry (using an electric shaver is pure torture; it does more pulling than cutting).

When my hair (which is curly too but much finer) was long, and when it wasn't tied back, I was forever pulling the side locks out and away from my beard where they often got hung up. So I started shaving the sides, leaving a goatee with bits extending a bit up the jawline--what I call a "Doctor Quest".

This solved most of the problem of my hair getting hung up in my beard at the time, but it did present the theory to me that the fellow who invented velcro must've been a bearded long-hair like I was.

Hair is much shorter now, but the goat is still there, usually. At the moment though, it's a combo Pancho Villa `stache and soul patch. If I quit shaving today, the beard will be back in about 2 weeks. Seems to be more grey in it each time, tho'...

Subject: RE: Folklore: Why do folkies have beards
From: Dug
Date: 29 Nov 03 - 03:10 PM

I suspect that the person who started this thread was just stirring it.    The 60 hours a year that I would spend shaving every day if I didn't have a beard is spent on more worthwhile activity- sleeping.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Why do folkies have beards
From: YorkshireYankee
Date: 29 Nov 03 - 04:01 PM

Cluin wrote:
it did present the theory to me that the fellow who invented velcro must've been a bearded long-hair like I was.

This is not the kind of thing I'd usually know, but just happened to read yesterday that the fellow who invented velcro (no, I don't remember his name, but I do remember that velcro is an [abbreviated] combination of "velvet" and "crochet"[French for "hook"]) got the idea for it after going on walks in the woods & having to remove burrs from his clothing.

Cheers,

YY

Subject: RE: Folklore: Why do folkies have beards
From: Joybell
Date: 29 Nov 03 - 05:03 PM

I do like to have my morning coffee with a bunch of hairy men. Just like a folk festival! Thanks guys for sharing your descriptions. My hairy feller isn't up this early.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Why do folkies have beards
From: Little Hawk
Date: 29 Nov 03 - 08:00 PM

I think it was Mrs Lemon who asked "WHY do some of you men shave your beards? Why!??"

Well, this is why, in my case:

1. Intial conditioning (at a very young age) formed observing my father every day shaving HIS beard. "Monkey see, monkey do."

2. My admiration as a boy for American Indians and Romans (most of whom were beardless...the Romans shaved, the Indians didn't have beards for some reason).

3. My general like for the look of the clean-shaven man...who was the hero in most comics I read, movies I watched, etc...bad guys often wore beards.

4. The fact that I have a sparse beard that doesn't lend itself to rapid growth.

5. It's a habit.

6. Beard looks cruddy and miserable while growing in, and is bloody uncomfortable too!

Is that good enough?

- LH

Subject: RE: Folklore: Why do folkies have beards
From: GUEST,t'other hand
Date: 30 Nov 03 - 02:47 PM

cluin - you've got lovely hair (what's left of it)

Subject: RE: Folklore: Why do folkies have beards
From: Zorg
Date: 30 Nov 03 - 03:48 PM

Since being promoted to a civilian.From when Adam was a boy I have sported, if that is the word,a beard. And I have cheated the razor industry out of many pounds in revenue, also hairdressers.Besides which it hides my weak chin,

Subject: RE: Folklore: Why do folkies have beards
From: Beverley Barton
Date: 01 Dec 03 - 09:55 AM

I have just spent the last two weeks trying to grow abeard, and it is driving me mad! It is growing back in on itself and stabbing me! how long will it be before it stops itching/stabbing me? Am i just unlucky to be stabbed by my own beard?

Subject: RE: Folklore: Why do folkies have beards
From: Cluin
Date: 01 Dec 03 - 11:10 AM

LH.... nope, not good enough. Turn in your card on the way out.   ;)

Guest, t'other hand... have we met?

el ted.... at least another couple of weeks. I sympathise. My beard, being wiry, grows the same way and I experience the same discomfort for the first few weeks. Not much to do about it, I've found; just gut it out.


I mentioned above that I don't use an electric razor. When I started shaving in my early mid teens, it was with a safety razor. Then I went to using those trac-2 disposable cartridges and disposable Bic-type razors. I have never used a straight razor (mostly because I am fairly hopeless at any kind of sharpening or honing) and wouldn't know how without cutting my throat, I bet. I almost never nick myself with the other kinds, though. How many of you other guys have ever used a straight razor?

And another question. I've never gotten a shave from a barber either. Is it worth it or does anybody even do that anymore?

Actually, an item on my to-do list is to get a shave from an old west style hooker-with-a-heart-of-gold, like you always saw in the old westerns. For a high one, maybe I'll ask my girlfriend to shave me someday (not mentioning the hooker part) since she's a nurse and had a lot of experience.

...now the pleasures of the harbour
   don't include a lady barber
   if it wasn't for Long John Silver
   all of us pirates would've been martyrs...

         High and Dry,   Gordon Lightfoot

Subject: RE: Folklore: Why do folkies have beards
From: Don Firth
Date: 01 Dec 03 - 03:15 PM

el ted,

Drive them in with a hammer
And bite them off inside.

Don Firth

Subject: RE: Folklore: Why do folkies have beards
From: Beverley Barton
Date: 02 Dec 03 - 04:07 AM

Thanks Don, It worked! What a great tip that is for all new beard growers.I tried several hammers and found that a 6pound lump hammer was the most effective.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Why do folkies have beards
From: GUEST,t'other hand
Date: 02 Dec 03 - 02:08 PM

Cluin - If you are the same? Fylde Folk Festival

       If not - No, or maybe

But isn't every bearded folky is going thin on top?




live long and prosper

Subject: RE: Folklore: Why do folkies have beards
From: Cluin
Date: 06 Dec 03 - 11:02 PM

Nope. Never been to the Fylde Folk Fest. Must have me confused with another. And yep, thinning out some on top, but still plenty there to keep the brain warm.

Spock! Get outta there!

Subject: RE: Folklore: Why do folkies have beards
From: Joe_F
Date: 06 Sep 07 - 08:25 PM

There is already a thread on this:
thread.cfm?threadid=64637#1061343
As mentioned there, an obvious explanation is that people who do not follow fashion in their musical tastes are likely to be people of independent mind & thus likely to ignore fashion in their other cultural choices.

I consider myself a man of independent mind, but candor forbids me to claim that link in my case. I was exposed to folksongs as a child & adolescent, so I was conforming when I sang them. And I eventually grew a beard because (1) when I was little, I wanted to be a kitten, and (2) as I grew older, I came to believe that anything that would have shocked people in 1950 was ipso facto sexy.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Why do folkies have beards
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 06 Sep 07 - 08:45 PM

"There is already a thread on this: No, Joe F - this is the same thread s the one you linked to...

Of course the question really is "why do so many men shave?" Growing a beard isn't an action, it's refraining from the action of shaving. And a rather peculiar action that is too, when you think of it.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Why do folkies have beards
From: MystMoonstruck
Date: 06 Sep 07 - 09:48 PM

Someone mentioned listing beard songs in order to keep this in the song forum. What about an albumful by a group named The Beards?! Here's a link to their site, where you can listen to the songs:

The Beards and their beard songs!!!!!!!!!

I'm not sure if this appears anywhere, but here's a link to another beard-containing song, "True Blue Bill" aka "Truthful Bill":

TRUE BLUE BILL or TRUTHFUL BILL

Here are lyrics from a children's song:
My Beard Has Three Hairs

My beard has three hairs,
Three hairs has my beard.
If it hadn't three hairs,
Then it wouldn't be my beard.

I know there are many traditional songs that mention beards. I'm thinking of one recorded by Common Stock; I'll have to look for that cassette.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Why do folkies have beards
From: Chip2447
Date: 06 Sep 07 - 11:38 PM

We grow beards so that on those cold hungry nights we can at least have warm soup by steeping our beards and all of their collected foodstuffs in hot water.   MMMMMMM yum!!!

Chip2447(fully bearded, brindled though it be)

Subject: RE: Folklore: Why do folkies have beards
From: GUEST,H W Jennings
Date: 07 Sep 07 - 12:52 AM

I can't grow a decent beard, but once I tried. My father saw it and asked me "why do men try so hard to cultivate on their face, what grows so wild on their a** ?"

I took the hint.

Not knockin 'em. I just can't grow one.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Why do folkies have beards
From: Mick Tems
Date: 07 Sep 07 - 03:57 AM

I grew a beard two years ago (just like my predecessor!) And while we're on the topic of bearded stereotypes, I was in Ireland just browsing at a village clothes store when something caught my eye. it's really useful - in the cold, it's warm, but in the weather, it's cool. Yes - I love my Aran jumper!

Subject: RE: Folklore: Why do folkies have beards
From: Mick Tems
Date: 07 Sep 07 - 04:00 AM

Spot the literal - "in the HOT weather..."

Subject: RE: Folklore: Why do folkies have beards
From: Art Thieme
Date: 07 Sep 07 - 11:54 AM

At the very least, those of us who have beards have them to keep folks who dislike people who have beards from making our aquaintance.

Art

Subject: RE: Folklore: Why do folkies have beards
From: Art Thieme
Date: 07 Sep 07 - 12:03 PM

My father died when I was five years old, so I never had a proper shaving roll model.

For that same reason, I don't wear a tie.
Art

Subject: RE: Folklore: Why do folkies have beards
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 07 Sep 07 - 12:41 PM

I like a bit of hair round my lips.
G.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Why do folkies have beards
From: Leadbelly
Date: 07 Sep 07 - 01:40 PM

Folkies do have beards because they want to look like pirates, behave like pirates (after boarding/ a gig taking some money and all of the women) and live a life like pirates (from one harbour resp. gig to another). And that's only because a long time ago a folk-song like this was sung: (Yes folks, that's absolutely true, haha!)

Alle die mit uns auf Kaperfahrt fahren

Alle die mit uns auf Kaperfahrt fahren,
das müssen Männer mit Bärten sein
Alle die mit uns auf Kaperfahrt fahren,
das müssen Männer mit Bärten sein
Jan und Hein und Claas und Pit,
die haben Bärte, die haben Bärte
Jan und Hein und Claas und Pit,
die haben Bärte, die fahren mit

Alle die Hölle und Teufel nicht fürchten...

Alle die mit uns das Walroß schlachten...

Alle, die öligen Zwieback kauen...

Alle die mit uns zur Hölle fahren...

Originally from Flanders.

Bearded Fred