Handlebar moustache
A handlebar moustache is a moustache with particularly lengthy, often graspable, extremities. They are named for their resemblance to the handlebars of a motorcycle or bicycle. This effect is usually achieved by the use of moustache wax.
Handlebar moustaches have always been closely associated with the British armed forces, particularly with the Royal Air Force in the Second World War.
During the First World War many things were in short supply, including wax. in 1915 to try and help preserve the limited supply of wax, Canada outlawed handlebar moustaches which required wax to be maintained.
Men known for their Handlebar Moustaches
- Joshua Chamberlain, American Civil War General
- Cap Anson, baseball player
- Johnnie Cradock, British cook and broadcaster
- Jimmy Edwards, British comedy actor
- Sam Elliott, American actor
- Rollie Fingers, baseball player
- Vince Guaraldi, American jazz composer
- Merv Hughes, Australian cricketer
- Bill King, American sports broadcaster
- Lord Kitchener
- Sir Gerald Nabarro, British politician
- Gene Shalit, film critic for NBC
- Joseph Stalin, Soviet dictator
- William Howard Taft, U.S. President and Chief Justice of the United States
- Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany
- Veerappan, Indian bandit