Movember is an annual event during which men are encouraged to grow mustaches during the month of November in order to raise awareness of men’s health issues. A glance at the
photo gallery on the Movember website reveals some of the striking mustaches grown in support of the cause. The Movember movement started in 2003, but men have been sporting notable mustaches for ages. A number of these mustaches are documented in Nebraska Memories.
Many of these Nebraskan mustaches are showcased in the portraits of the
Butler County Gallery Collection.
Ralph Stryker and
George Hahn were two men who sat for portraits in the early 1900s, both showing off their mustaches. Growing mustaches (and beards) was clearly a family affair for the four
Smith brothers of David City.
Another notable mustache portrait is found in the Townsend Studio collection.
Henry Herpolsheimer, president of Lincoln’s Herpolsheimer Company, sports a long white mustache in his portrait.
Joseph M. Rising, a member of the founding family of Rising City, also has a bushy mustache.
While most of these mustache photographs date from the late 1800s or early 1900s, interesting mustaches can be found in later photos as well. This
German prisoner of war, in a photograph
taken at Camp Atlanta, near Holdrege, during World War II, has a prominent mustache.
Visit
Nebraska Memories to search for or browse through many more historical images digitized from photographs, negatives, postcards, maps, lantern slides, books and other materials.
Nebraska Memories is a cooperative project to digitize Nebraska-related historical and cultural heritage materials and make them available to researchers of all ages via the Internet. Nebraska Memories is brought to you by the Nebraska Library Commission. If your institution is interested in participating in Nebraska Memories, see
http://nlc.nebraska.gov/nebraskamemories/participation.aspx for more information, or contact
Beth Goble, Historical Services Librarian, or
Devra Dragos, Technology & Access Services Director.
