The Heavily Bearded Tradition
Beards came back in a big way in the nineteenth century, after centuries of smooth-shaved faces. Much of that had to do with the Victorian ideal of rugged manliness, and beards are clear visual markers of maleness. It was not just changed cultural norms and mores, though. The popularity of thick facial hair was helped by medical opinions about the supposed health benefits of beards. In the mid-nineteenth century, doctors began to encourage men to rock thick beards for their health. Although the medical benefits of beards as imagined by Victorian doctors are nonexistent, there was some logic behind the theories that beards were good for men’s health.
The Industrial Revolution was fueled by coal burned in unprecedented quantities. That led to massive air pollution. Add in the recent discovery of germ theory, which many doctors had heard of but had not yet fully understood, and concerns with tiny bad things in the air were understandable. Doctors reasoned that thick facial hair could filter out bad air and the bad little particulates that floated in it. Some even theorized that beards could prevent sore throats. In reality, as we now know, beards can’t filter air: harmful germs and aerial pollutants are too small for facial hair to block them. Beards actually do the opposite of what nineteenth century medical opinion assumed. Rather than filter out germs and other harmful particles, such particles can actually get stuck to beards, so facial hair actually increases rather than reduces the odds of infections.