Etiquette and Mustache Guards

“To abandon the mustache is almost out of the question. Inasmuch as that appendage is highly ornamental to the masculine visage, making many a homely man good looking and contributing pulchritude even to the most beautiful specimens in pantaloons.” — This patent for a mustache guard by T. Ferry was as applied for in 1900. Several other types are shown below.

Mustache Guards for the Gilded Age

If nature had contemplated soup she would never have provided man with a mustache. That civilized man cannot live without dining is undeniable, and a good dinner is almost necessarily introduced by soup. But the average male human being whose upper lip is unshaven finds it very difficult to eat his potage in a neat and well bred manner.

To abandon the mustache is almost out of the question. Inasmuch as that appendage is highly ornamental to the masculine visage, making many a homely man good looking and contributing pulchritude even to the most beautiful specimens in pantaloons.

The problem has furnished inspiration to a number of inventors, who during the past few years have applied for patents on “mustache guards” of various kinds. All of them are ingenious, and, taken together, they show that a vast amount of earnest thought has been expended in the effort to produce a contrivance that will give happiness to the man with the hirsute lip by enabling him to eat his soup gracefully and comfortably.

Latest of the Inventors in this line is T. Ferry of Wilmington, Del., who only a couple of weeks ago took out a patent on a mustache guard for which one advantage claimed is that it may be “easily carried in the vest pocket.” It is a sort of comb arrangement, and, holding itself in place by a pair of springs at the sides, keeps the hairy ornament up and out of the way of the mouth. — J. A. Moore of Cambridgeport, Mass., 1905

Etiquette Enthusiast, Maura J. Graber, is the Site Editor for the Etiquipedia© Etiquette Encyclopedia