Handlebar moustache

Copenhagen wigmaker about 1893

A handlebar moustache is a moustache with particularly lengthy and upwardly curved extremities; a shorter version is named the petit handlebar. These moustache styles are named for their resemblance to the handlebars of a bicycle.^[1] It is also known as a spaghetti moustache, because of its stereotypical association with Italian men.^[2][3] The Handlebar Club humorously describes the style as "a hirsute appendage of the upper lip and with graspable extremities".^[4]

History

Similar styles of moustache are quite ancient, appearing on statues and other depictions of Iron Age Celts.^[5] In the United States, handlebar moustaches were worn in the later part of the 19th century by Wild West figures like Wyatt Earp.^[6][7] In Europe, handlebar moustaches were often worn by soldiers during the 19th 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.^[8][9]

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.^[10]

Famous handlebar moustaches

• 
  Wyatt Earp
• 
  William Howard Taft^[11]
• 
  Wilhelm II^[12]
• 
  Joseph Stalin^[13]
• 
  JP Morgan^[14]
• 
  Buffalo Bill^[15]
• 
  Bhagat Singh - Indian revolutionary & evergreen Youth Icon^{[16][17][18][19][20]}
• 
  Franz Ferdinand
• 
  Rollie Fingers
• 
  Vincenzo Garioni
• 
  Vince Guaraldi

Company Mascots

• Julius Pringles
• Mr. Monopoly^[21]
• Mr. Boh^[22]
• Air India's Maharaja mascot^[23][24]

Styles

This style is usually achieved by the use of moustache wax,^[25] although hair gel, a curling iron, or natural curling can suffice.^[26] Generally, the greater the curl of the extremities, the more dramatic the appearance achieved. When worn without wax or grooming, the moustache style may more closely resemble a walrus moustache.^[27]

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Handlebar moustaches.

• Handlebar Club
• List of moustache styles

References