THE ORIGIN OF SHAVING.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXIX, Issue 10, 2 May 1914, Page 5

THE ORIGIN OF SHAVING.

The question often arises as to how and when shaving came to be invented, and the reason for it. It appears that the habit of shaving is not of a very ancient origin, however. When humanity lived a quiet, rural, and unambitious life, men did .not shave; their hair was their glory, and if they had occasion to swear, which must have been infrequent, their hardiest and readiest oath was “by the beard of my father,” showing clearly that this feature was held in veneration in early times and was probably' accorded divine honors upon suitable occasions. With the advent of war came the habit of shaving. A Beard offered too handy a grip to a foeman who had gotten to close quarters; therefore warriors who had no true hardihood of son! preferred cutting off their beards to the honorable labor of defending their • chins. Many ancient races effected a compromise in order to retain a'fitting military appearance, for a fare-faced warrior has but little terror in his aspect. The Egyptians, for example, who had cut off, or could not cultivate, or had been forcibly deprived of their .beards, were wont to go into battle clad in heavy, “v false whiskers, which, when an eheniy seized hold of them, came off instantly in his hand, and the ancient Egyptian was enabled to despatch him while in a trance of stupefaction and horror. Clean-shaved men became by this cow- ... ardly stratagem very much prized as fighting men, and thus the foundation of the shaving habit was laid. It has to be said for shaving, however, that it is certainly more hygienic than the growing of a heard, which harbors germs and is a good distributing agent for them. A bearded face is much more difficult to keep clean than a shaved face, and where there is dirt there is danger.