Written By: Eliza Berman
Since the early-2000s establishment of Movember—an annual fundraising competition to raise money for men’s health issues—November has come to be associated with the sprouting of mustaches where once there were none.
But for serious growers of facial hair, October is the month that matters. At the annual World Beard and Moustache Championships, cancelled this year due to Covid, slender Dali’s compete with bushy Imperials for the title of greatest ‘stache.
In celebration of these feats of facial hair, LIFE revisits the London Handlebar Club, which in the 1940s offered a safe space for those who sported exuberant whiskers. At meetings, members shared tips for preventing an upsweep (clip-on weights!) and dealing with a mustache misshapen from sleep (sleep on your back, not your face). One particularly troublesome ailment was the “Boozer’s Droop,” a side effect of “too much immersion in alcohol during the mustache’s early development.” The cure? “Stop drinking. Short of that, shave.”
Liz Ronk edited this gallery.
Members of the London Handlebar Club, 1947.
Nat Farbman / The LIFE Picture Collection (c) Meredith Corporation
Members of the London Handlebar Club, 1947.
Nat Farbman / The LIFE Picture Collection (c) Meredith Corporation
Members of the London Handlebar Club, 1947.
Nat Farbman / The LIFE Picture Collection (c) Meredith Corporation
Members of the London Handlebar Club, 1947.
Nat Farbman / The LIFE Picture Collection (c) Meredith Corporation
Members of the London Handlebar Club, 1947.
Nat Farbman / The LIFE Picture Collection (c) Meredith Corporation
Member of the London Handlebar Club, 1947.
Nat Farbman / The LIFE Picture Collection (c) Meredith Corporation
Members of the London Handlebar Club, 1947.
Nat Farbman / The LIFE Picture Collection (c) Meredith Corporation
Members of the London Handlebar Club, 1947.
Nat Farbman / The LIFE Picture Collection (c) Meredith Corporation
Members of the London Handlebar Club, 1947.
Nat Farbman / The LIFE Picture Collection (c) Meredith Corporation
Members of the London Handlebar Club, 1947.
Nat Farbman / The LIFE Picture Collection (c) Meredith Corporation
Members of the London Handlebar Club, 1947.
Nat Farbman / The LIFE Picture Collection (c) Meredith Corporation
Members of the London Handlebar Club, 1947.
Nat Farbman / The LIFE Picture Collection (c) Meredith Corporation
Members of the London Handlebar Club, 1947.
Nat Farbman / The LIFE Picture Collection (c) Meredith Corporation
