Sepia Saturday is all about Beards and Books. Luckily my family files have a number of beards, from those of my early German immigrant ancestors to my modern day family.
Great Great Grandfather Heinrich Eduard Hanckel, although cleanshaven as a young man sported a lovely white beard in later age. He was a book binder and book seller and came to South Australia in 1850. Here is a link to the book theme.
A Great Great Grandfather on the maternal side was Johann Gottlieb Lehmann who arrived in South Australia on the Leontine in 1848. He hailed from Brandenburg, Prussia. He sported a fuller, longer beard than GGG Hanckel. His offspring also enjoyed their facial hair.
Coming down a generation. Great Grandfather Ernst Bernhard Heyne who married GGG Hanckel's daughter, Laura, also has a link to books. He was a Botanist, a linguist and a Horticulturist and wrote one of the first gardening books published in the colony of South Australia. "The Amateur Gardener for South Australia" went to at least 3 editions and even today is full of sound gardening principles and practices. Here he is as a younger man and the older version
The next couple of generations weren't into beards though some of them fancied their moustaches, but my generation, in middle age, took to berads with great gusto, as some of my cousins show you here.
But I think the classic of my generation comes from my husband's family of six boys. My husband Don, is the only clean shaven one, though he did grow a beard arond this time. Unfortunately his rathe sort neck meant the beard just did not suit him, so at the family's insistence, he shaved it off. Every now and then he threatens to grow it again and is immediately told he will suffer a family excommunication.
I actually found some more interesting beards in my family photos, but I am so frustrated with this new formatting system that I couldn't be bothered figuring it out. Maybe I will put them in another post when I am feeling more patient.
Meantime I hope you enjoy this post and pop along to the link to see how the others have got on with this theme.
Liz Needle linking with Sepia Saturday
Just as long as the women liked men with beards! I think that my wife is ambivalent to mine, but I am quite sure it is here to stay!
ReplyDeleteI'm one of those women who like men with beards! But it is really a man's expression of who he is, so I have 3 sons with bits of unshaved chins...and other bits that are cleaned off regularly.
ReplyDeleteYou've certainly found some good matches for this theme. I have a beard myself and admire the variety of beards that show up in vintage photos. I have a theory that in earlier times a man's beard/mustache style was not just a fashion choice but a symbol of his nationality, class, profession, or religion. The chin beard minus a mustache of your great grandfathers look very similar to the style worn by Amish/Mennonite men here in America. I've also noticed that it was common in the old days for preachers of many faiths to have a clean underlip too. I'm sure for our present time that tattoo styles will be a topic of genealogy research in 100+ years.
ReplyDeleteMost of the men in this post - all the older ones - are of German ancestry which may account for the lack of upper lip hair.
DeleteA nice collection of beards of all different shapes, sizes, and colors! My husband grew a beard for a while. It was a short one and he took good care of it. I didn't like it very much but let him have his 'fun' with it for a while. When I finally said something he was relieved because he had already been thinking he wanted to get rid of it. Yay!!!
ReplyDeleteA wonderful collection of beards. My husband and sons have beards. I wonder why men with beards would shave off the moustache. I guess I will google it.
ReplyDeleteA fun post with all of the stylish beards! However, I went down the rabbit hole after your reference to the book "The Amateur Gardener for South Australia." I completed a Botany certificate this summer and would love to have a look at that book. Alas, it doesn't seem to be available in an archive in digital format -- and the price tag of more than $900 puts it out of my reach. Still, how grand to have its author in your family.
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