Yikes, if this was what passed for a beard in 1948, that’s a sad, sad state for facial hair. My brother-in-law is only capable of patchy spots on his face, but my husband can grow a full beard quickly. Now that it’s mostly white, he resembles Santa with only the aid of his round metal readers. Nobody likes a Santa with a fake beard.
SHORPY: Ca. 1863. “Unidentified soldier in Union uniform with forage cap carrying a bone handle knife in breast pocket.” Sixth-plate tintype, hand-colored. Liljenquist Family Collection of Civil War Photographs, Library of Congress.
Per wikipedia, the Civil War the M1858 forage cap, based on the French kepi, was the most common headgear worn by union troops, even though it was described by one soldier as “Shapeless as a feedbag”. What do you think? Pretty slouchy?
So often, we see pictures of Civil War soldiers, and they look creepy/eerie/stiff, nothing like a man in 2017. But this one is different. Maybe it’s the goatee or the penetrating gaze. He reminds me of someone I’ve seen. Just to put this in perspective, let’s remember that Civil War facial hair often looked more like that of Major General Alpheus Williams.
Not that this beard isn’t AMAZING. Because it is.
These bearded fellows here are listed as veterans of the Battle of San Jacinto, circa early 1900s. That would make them all at least 80 years old by that point. If you’re not clear on that battle, here’s some quick history.
Remember the Alamo: At 5am on March 6, 1836, Mexican troops under Santa Anna launched their final assault on the Alamo. By 6:30am, the Alamo had fallen. As news of the Alamo’s fall spread, angered volunteer ranks grew. On April 21, under Sam Houston, the Texian (yes, Texian at that point) cannon fired, beginning the battle of San Jacinto. Per Wikipedia,
After a single volley, Texians broke ranks and swarmed over the Mexican breastworks to engage in hand-to-hand combat. Mexican soldiers were taken by surprise…Within 18 minutes, Mexican soldiers abandoned their campsite and fled for their lives…Texians continued to chant “Remember the Alamo! Remember Goliad!” while frightened Mexican infantry yelled “Me no Alamo!” and begged for mercy to no avail. In what historian Davis called “one of the most one-sided victories in history,” 650 Mexican soldiers were killed and 300 captured. Eleven Texians died, with 30 others, including Houston, wounded.
Anyway, y’all, that’s why we remember the Alamo. Afterward, the Treaties of Velasco required that all Mexican troops withdraw south of the Rio Grande, which became recognized as the border between the two countries, and that’s right about where Trump plans to put that wall.
Perhaps it will look like this border fence in Eagle Pass, Texas, right next to a golf course in Shelby Park and half a mile from the Rio Grande.
I spy with my little eyes a a trim little number working in the flower garden, wearing a jaunty yellow scarf and prissy white gloves to protect his manicure, with a clear oral fixation, hand on hip, jutted out all sassily. Uh-oh. The issue is not Mom’s beer. The issue is Mom’s a beard.
I Don't Get It 