Dear LPG,

I suppose that I have use the title of my efforts today to attract the attention of all the ladies who read these pages because I am one and can only see facial hair from that viewpoint but, have you noticed how many men have a beard or some sort of facial hair these days?  For us now older ladies, I can remember the things going on beneath a man’s chin being one of the more serious considerations we used when looking for an ‘other half’.  In the 1950s and 1960s I always remembered associating good looking men with being clean shaven ones.  The internet tells that a beard as something that men through the ages have entertained when they want to look stronger or more distinguished in older age which is why I, for one, steered clear of them back then.

I think that many of us ladies who are now in their seventies and eighties would have accepted that a man with a beard was ‘getting on a bit’ or that they might have had something to hide on the lower half of the face but, how things change.  Beard wearers are becoming younger and younger these days and I think that the month of November has had quite a lot to do with it. 

There are now two charities that support the idea of sponsored November facial hair growth and, I remember when two of my grandsons went ‘head to head’ about five years ago in a bid to see who could sport the hairiest chin.  Then December came but the beards never went away and they are still there to this day.  I have always thought it was an excuse for young men not to bother to shave so much, but I have it on good authority from each of those grandsons that a beard, no matter how short demands a commitment to a serious chunk of the wearers daily morning routine.  In fact, I bought each of these two grandsons a beard grooming kit last Christmas and they are not cheap!

But did you know that over the years there have been taxes levied on whiskers.  Henry VIII worked out that south facing chin hair presented an opportunity to tax something that was naturally God-given and cost nothing in overheads, and he was not the first.  His law was repealed in 1772 but I have now found a little online evidence that sparks rumours of a renaissance.

Whatever happens I think that, despite my reluctance to appreciate it as anything but plain uncomfortable looking facial fuzziness, it is nice to be able to get close enough to each of those two young men for a hug again, even if a prickly face is always going to be part of my experience. 

LG, Telegraph Hill.

LG shares some bearded facts…

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