Handlebar moustache
Encyclopedia
A handlebar moustache is a moustache
with particularly lengthy, upward curved, extremities. It is named for its resemblance to the handlebar
s of a bicycle
. It is also known as a "spaghetti moustache", because of its stereotypical association with Italian men. The Handlebar Club
humorously describes the style as "a hirsute appendage of the upper lip and with graspable extremities".
, although hair gel
, a curling iron, or natural curling can sometimes be used. By varying the amount of curling of the extremities, a more dramatic appearance can be achieved. When worn without wax or grooming, the moustache style may more closely resemble a walrus moustache
.
In the United States, handlebar moustaches were often worn in the later part of the 19th century by Wild West figures like Wyatt Earp
. In Europe, handlebar moustaches were often worn by soldiers during the 18th century through roughly the World War I era.
In 1972, to win a $300 "best facial hair" prize offered by team owner Charlie O. Finley, Oakland A's pitcher
Rollie Fingers
grew a handlebar moustache which he sported throughout his career.
More recently, the contemporary hipster subculture
has embraced the handlebar moustache by mocking conventional ideals of fashion, and by ironically
combining a highly manicured handlebar moustache with the portrayal of an unkempt appearance or a haphazardly selected clothing ensemble.
Moustache
A moustache is facial hair grown on the outer surface of the upper lip. It may or may not be accompanied by a type of beard, a facial hair style grown and cropped to cover most of the lower half of the face.-Etymology:...
with particularly lengthy, upward curved, extremities. It is named for its resemblance to the handlebar
Bicycle handlebar
Bicycle handlebar or often bicycle handlebars refers to the steering mechanism for bicycles; the equivalent of a steering wheel. Besides steering, handlebars also often support a portion of the rider's weight, depending on their riding position, and provide a convenient mounting place for brake...
s of a bicycle
Bicycle
A bicycle, also known as a bike, pushbike or cycle, is a human-powered, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, having two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other. A person who rides a bicycle is called a cyclist, or bicyclist....
. It is also known as a "spaghetti moustache", because of its stereotypical association with Italian men. The Handlebar Club
Handlebar Club
The Handlebar Club is an association of aficionados of the handlebar moustache, based in London. The club's sole requirement for membership is "a hirsute appendage of the upper lip and with graspable extremities"; beards are absolutely forbidden...
humorously describes the style as "a hirsute appendage of the upper lip and with graspable extremities".
Styles
This style is usually achieved by the use of moustache waxMoustache wax
Moustache wax is a stiff pomade applied to a moustache as a grooming aid to hold the hairs in place, especially at the extremities. It can also have restorative properties, which become more important as the hair length increases...
, although hair gel
Hair gel
Hair gel is a hairstyling product that is used to stiffen hair into a particular hairstyle. The results it produces are usually similar to, but stronger than, those of hair spray and hair wax, and weaker than those of hair glue.-Types:...
, a curling iron, or natural curling can sometimes be used. By varying the amount of curling of the extremities, a more dramatic appearance can be achieved. When worn without wax or grooming, the moustache style may more closely resemble a walrus moustache
Walrus moustache
The walrus moustache is characterized by whiskers that are thick and bushy in nature. Its name derives from the fact that the whiskers usually droop over the mouth, giving an appearance to the human face that is very similar to that of a walrus.-History:...
.
History
Similar styles of moustache are quite ancient, appearing on statues and other depictions of Iron Age Celts.In the United States, handlebar moustaches were often worn in the later part of the 19th century by Wild West figures like Wyatt Earp
Wyatt Earp
Wyatt Berry Stapp Earp was an American gambler, investor, and law enforcement officer who served in several Western frontier towns. He was also at different times a farmer, teamster, bouncer, saloon-keeper, miner and boxing referee. However, he was never a drover or cowboy. He is most well known...
. In Europe, handlebar moustaches were often worn by soldiers during the 18th century through roughly the World War I era.
In 1972, to win a $300 "best facial hair" prize offered by team owner Charlie O. Finley, Oakland A's pitcher
Pitcher
In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throwsthe baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw a walk. In the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the...
Rollie Fingers
Rollie Fingers
Roland Glen Fingers is a former Major League Baseball relief pitcher. During his 18-year baseball career, he pitched for the Oakland Athletics , San Diego Padres and Milwaukee Brewers . He became only the second reliever to be elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1992...
grew a handlebar moustache which he sported throughout his career.
More recently, the contemporary hipster subculture
Hipster (contemporary subculture)
Hipsters are a subculture of young, recently settled urban middle class adults and older teenagers with musical interests mainly in alternative rock that appeared in the 1990s...
has embraced the handlebar moustache by mocking conventional ideals of fashion, and by ironically
Irony
Irony is a rhetorical device, literary technique, or situation in which there is a sharp incongruity or discordance that goes beyond the simple and evident intention of words or actions...
combining a highly manicured handlebar moustache with the portrayal of an unkempt appearance or a haphazardly selected clothing ensemble.
Famous men with handlebar moustaches
- Michael "Atters" Attree (b. 1965) — comedian and figurehead of the Handlebar ClubHandlebar ClubThe Handlebar Club is an association of aficionados of the handlebar moustache, based in London. The club's sole requirement for membership is "a hirsute appendage of the upper lip and with graspable extremities"; beards are absolutely forbidden...
- Francisco BertrandFrancisco BertrandFrancisco Bertrand Barahona was twice President of Honduras, first from 28 March 1911 to 1 February 1912, and then again between 21 March 1913 and 9 September 1919. His successor and predecessor was Manuel Bonilla....
(1866–1926) — President of Honduras - Juan CaillesJuan CaillesJuan Cailles was a Filipino commander who served during the Philippine Revolution and Philippine-American War. He later served as a provincial politician.-Early life:...
(1871–1951) — Filipino commander - Billy ChildishBilly ChildishBilly Childish is an English artist, painter, author, poet, photographer, film maker, singer and guitarist...
(b. 1959) — artist, painter, author, poet, photographer, film maker, singer and guitarist - Lord Randolph ChurchillLord Randolph ChurchillLord Randolph Henry Spencer-Churchill MP was a British statesman. He was the third son of the 7th Duke of Marlborough and his wife Lady Frances Anne Emily Vane , daughter of the 3rd Marquess of Londonderry...
(1849–1895) — British statesman - George Armstrong CusterGeorge Armstrong CusterGeorge Armstrong Custer was a United States Army officer and cavalry commander in the American Civil War and the Indian Wars. Raised in Michigan and Ohio, Custer was admitted to West Point in 1858, where he graduated last in his class...
(1839–1876) — United States Army officer during the Civil War - George DeweyGeorge DeweyGeorge Dewey was an admiral of the United States Navy. He is best known for his victory at the Battle of Manila Bay during the Spanish-American War...
(1837–1917) — admiral of the United States Navy - Wyatt EarpWyatt EarpWyatt Berry Stapp Earp was an American gambler, investor, and law enforcement officer who served in several Western frontier towns. He was also at different times a farmer, teamster, bouncer, saloon-keeper, miner and boxing referee. However, he was never a drover or cowboy. He is most well known...
(1848–1929) — American gunslingerGunslingerGunfighter, also gunslinger , is a 20th century word, used in cinema or literature, referring to men in the American Old West who had gained a reputation as being dangerous with a gun... - Edward ElgarEdward ElgarSir Edward William Elgar, 1st Baronet OM, GCVO was an English composer, many of whose works have entered the British and international classical concert repertoire. Among his best-known compositions are orchestral works including the Enigma Variations, the Pomp and Circumstance Marches, concertos...
(1857–1934) — English composer - Franz Ferdinand (1863-1914) — Archduke of Austria-Este
- Rollie FingersRollie FingersRoland Glen Fingers is a former Major League Baseball relief pitcher. During his 18-year baseball career, he pitched for the Oakland Athletics , San Diego Padres and Milwaukee Brewers . He became only the second reliever to be elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1992...
(b. 1946) — baseball pitcher - George V of the United KingdomGeorge V of the United KingdomGeorge V was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 through the First World War until his death in 1936....
(1865–1936) — King of the United Kingdom - Thomas HardyThomas HardyThomas Hardy, OM was an English novelist and poet. While his works typically belong to the Naturalism movement, several poems display elements of the previous Romantic and Enlightenment periods of literature, such as his fascination with the supernatural.While he regarded himself primarily as a...
(1840–1928) — English novelist and poet - Maurice de HirschMaurice de HirschMaurice de Hirsch was a German-Jewish philanthropist who set up charitable foundations to promote Jewish education and improve the lot of oppressed European Jewry. He was the founder of the Jewish Colonization Association which sponsored large-scale Jewish immigration to Argentina...
(1831–1896) — German-Jewish philanthropist - Joseph Bruce Ismay (1862–1937) — English businessman
- Tom KetchumTom KetchumThomas Everard Ketchum , known as Black Jack, was a cowboy who later turned to a life of crime. He was hanged in 1901 for attempted train robbery.-First train robberies and murders:...
(1863–1901) — a cowboy who later turned to a life of crime - Horatio Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener (1850–1916) — British Field Marshal
- Henry Ware LawtonHenry Ware LawtonHenry Ware Lawton was a highly respected U.S. Army officer who served with distinction in the Civil War, the Apache Wars, the Spanish-American War and was the only U.S. general officer to be killed during the Philippine-American War...
(1843–1899) — United States Army officer - George LycurgusGeorge LycurgusGeorge Lycurgus was a Greek American businessman who played an influential role in the early tourist industry of Hawaii. He ran afoul of the government of the Republic of Hawaii and was accused of treason...
(1858–1960) — Greek American businessman - José MartíJosé MartíJosé Julián Martí Pérez was a Cuban national hero and an important figure in Latin American literature. In his short life he was a poet, an essayist, a journalist, a revolutionary philosopher, a translator, a professor, a publisher, and a political theorist. He was also a part of the Cuban...
(1853–1895) — Cuban national hero - Robin OldsRobin OldsRobin Olds was an American fighter pilot and general officer in the U.S. Air Force. He was a "triple ace", with a combined total of 16 victories in World War II and the Vietnam War. He retired in 1973 as a brigadier general....
(1922–2007) — American fighter pilot and general officer in the U.S. Air Force - Marcelo H. del PilarMarcelo H. del PilarMarcelo Hilario del Pilar y Gatmaitán , better known by his nom-de-plume Plaridel, was a celebrated figure in the Philippine Revolution and a leading propagandist for reforms in the Philippines A master polemicist in both the Tagalog and Spanish languages, he helped the Propaganda Movement through...
(1850–1896) — Filipino writer, journalist, satirist, lawyer - Albrecht von Roon (1803–1879) — Prussian soldier and statesman
- Theodore RooseveltTheodore RooseveltTheodore "Teddy" Roosevelt was the 26th President of the United States . He is noted for his exuberant personality, range of interests and achievements, and his leadership of the Progressive Movement, as well as his "cowboy" persona and robust masculinity...
(1858–1919) — President of the United States - Ferdinand de SaussureFerdinand de SaussureFerdinand de Saussure was a Swiss linguist whose ideas laid a foundation for many significant developments in linguistics in the 20th century. He is widely considered one of the fathers of 20th-century linguistics...
(1857–1913) — Swiss linguist - Joseph StalinJoseph StalinJoseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 6 May 1941 to 5 March 1953. He was among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who brought about the October Revolution and had held the position of first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee...
(1878–1953) — Premier of the Soviet Union - William Howard TaftWilliam Howard TaftWilliam Howard Taft was the 27th President of the United States and later the tenth Chief Justice of the United States...
(1857–1930) — President of the United States - Ben ThompsonBen ThompsonBen Thompson was a gunman, gambler, and sometime lawman of the Old West. He was a contemporary of Wyatt Earp, Buffalo Bill Cody, Doc Holliday, John Wesley Hardin and James Butler "Wild Bill" Hickock, some of whom considered him a trusted friend, others an enemy.Ben Thompson had a colorful career,...
(1843–1884) — a gunman, gambler, and sometime lawman of the Old West - Snidely WhiplashSnidely WhiplashSnidely Whiplash is the cartoon arch-villain to Dudley Do-Right in the tongue-in-cheek Dudley Do-Right of the Mounties segments of The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show by American animation pioneer Jay Ward....
(fictional) — cartoon arch-villain to Dudley Do-Right - Emiliano ZapataEmiliano ZapataEmiliano Zapata Salazar was a leading figure in the Mexican Revolution, which broke out in 1910, and which was initially directed against the president Porfirio Díaz. He formed and commanded an important revolutionary force, the Liberation Army of the South, during the Mexican Revolution...
(1879–1919) — leading figure in the Mexican Revolution - Eugene HützEugene HützEugene Hütz , September 6, 1972) is a Ukrainian-born singer and composer, most notable as the frontman of the critically acclaimed New York Gypsy punk band Gogol Bordello. Hütz is also a DJ and actor.-Early life:...
(b. 1972) - Ukrainian musician and frontman of New York-based band Gogol BordelloGogol BordelloGogol Bordello is a Gypsy punk band from the Lower East Side of Manhattan, formed in 1999 and known for theatrical stage shows and persistent touring.Much of the band's sound is inspired by Gypsy music...
See also
- Handlebar ClubHandlebar ClubThe Handlebar Club is an association of aficionados of the handlebar moustache, based in London. The club's sole requirement for membership is "a hirsute appendage of the upper lip and with graspable extremities"; beards are absolutely forbidden...
- List of moustache styles