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Fascial hair
Oct. 22nd, 2006 02:13 amSo I was reading Flea's piece on Leni Riefenstahl, and I got to thinking about Hitler's ugly, stupid little toothbrush mustache.
Aesthetically speaking, said ugly, stupid little toothbrush mustache IS Hitler. Take a look at that picture 3/5 of the way down the article: shave the little bastard, and he'd look pretty darn normal. And after the mid-1930s, of course, that mustache became internationally coded as meaning "Hitler" — unless you lived someplace completely inaccessible to photographic newsmedia (and never left that place, and never interacted with someone who HAD left), it became impossible to unironically trim your facial hair that way. Now that I think about it, it might be one of the most stable and iron-bound signifier-signified relationships I can think of. (Note to self: what would be a good way to establish the approximate date at which that signification became solid?)
But on the other hand, he didn't invent it himself, did he? We know that Hitler very self-consciously created his image, but it seems weird to imagine him trimming his 'stache in a completely unprecedented manner as part of that — that would work great for a musician or artist, but not so much for a political figure. And besides, there are only so many ways to defuzz oneself. No, it seems much more likely that it was an existing (albeit rare) style that he repurposed.
So has anyone ever seen any unironic — which is to say, 19th century or early 20th century — photographs of men with Hitlerstaches? Has anyone read any scholarship indicating that Hitler DID in fact invent his 'stache?
Aesthetically speaking, said ugly, stupid little toothbrush mustache IS Hitler. Take a look at that picture 3/5 of the way down the article: shave the little bastard, and he'd look pretty darn normal. And after the mid-1930s, of course, that mustache became internationally coded as meaning "Hitler" — unless you lived someplace completely inaccessible to photographic newsmedia (and never left that place, and never interacted with someone who HAD left), it became impossible to unironically trim your facial hair that way. Now that I think about it, it might be one of the most stable and iron-bound signifier-signified relationships I can think of. (Note to self: what would be a good way to establish the approximate date at which that signification became solid?)
But on the other hand, he didn't invent it himself, did he? We know that Hitler very self-consciously created his image, but it seems weird to imagine him trimming his 'stache in a completely unprecedented manner as part of that — that would work great for a musician or artist, but not so much for a political figure. And besides, there are only so many ways to defuzz oneself. No, it seems much more likely that it was an existing (albeit rare) style that he repurposed.
So has anyone ever seen any unironic — which is to say, 19th century or early 20th century — photographs of men with Hitlerstaches? Has anyone read any scholarship indicating that Hitler DID in fact invent his 'stache?
