Are you a fan of the ‘stache? Love it or loathe it, the humble moustache is making a comeback – so in honour of mo’s large and small, here is some tantalising trivia – all about the moustache!
Did you know?
- The average man has three times as many hair follicles as the gorilla – but fewer than a chimpanzee.
- The word “moustache” comes from the Middle Greek, “moustaki”, meaning “upper lip”.
- The oldest portrait depicting a moustache, of a Scythian horseman, dates from 300BC.
- Razors represent an industry worth over a billion dollars annually.
- The moustache has a myriad of slang terms, including: The ‘Stache, Cookie Duster, Crumb Catcher, Grass Grin, Face Lace, Mouthbrow, Whiskers, Tea Strainer, Upper Lipholstery, and Mr Tickles!
- Moustache hairs grow faster than any other kind of body hair, and sprouts faster during the spring and summer months.
- During World War I, the moustache was an indicator of military rank; as a man’s rank level advanced, he was allowed to grow a thicker and bushier moustache.
- Even today, there are restrictions: many firemen are not permitted to grow moustaches, and US Marines are restricted to keeping theirs below a half inch in length.
- In India, moustaches are seen as a symbol of power and virility. So much so that in some larger Indian cities, policemen are actually paid a bonus if they grow a moustache.
- The average moustache owner touches it over seven hundred times every day.
- Groucho Marx initially painted on his famous moustache – but eventually grew the real thing.
- Some moustache styles require the wearing of a “snood” for sleeping – a la Hercule Poirot.
- Charlie Chaplin’s toothbrush moustache was worn specifically to mock Adolf Hitler.
- In a deck of cards, only one king does not have a moustache – the King of Hearts.
- Paul McCartney’s Sgt. Pepper’s era moustache was originally grown to cover up a swollen lip from a moped accident in 1966.
- A British survey in 1966 found that sixty-one percent of respondents find a moustache to be sophisticated and even gentlemanly.
- A moustache is very absorbent! In fact, it is able to absorb twenty percent of its own weight in fluid. A scientific study that was commissioned by the Guinness Brewing Company found that an average Guinness drinker will trap a pint and a half in their moustache over the course of a year.
- Famous and proud moustache wearers include Martin Luther King Jr, Tom Selleck, George Harrison, Albert Einstein & Sam Elliot.