Men with beards: The best facial hair from Wisconsin history
Oh, you're growing your beard out for the fall? How cute.
In Wisconsin's long, rich history, growing a beard wasn't a seasonal fling but a right of passage, a sign of manhood, and often a multi-year commitment to cultivating and sculpting a magnificent beard or moustache.
Perusing the Wisconsin Historical Society's collection of portraits reveals an astonishingly diverse array of facial hair shapes and sizes, from refined and elegant to untamed and even bizarre.
Here's a selection of some of the fantastic beards and moustaches in the WHS's archives.
Unknown subject, circa 1910
Image ID: 106787
Wisconsin Historical SocietyUnknown subject and date
Image ID: 108447
Wisconsin Historical SocietyDavid Atwood, 1860
Portrait of David Atwood, as a Republican Assemblyman, 1860-1861. Atwood was the publisher of the Wisconsin State Journal.
Image ID: 37901
Wisconsin Historical SocietyUnknown subject, circa 1920
Image ID: 89670
Wisconsin Historical SocietyUnknown subject, circa 1920
Image ID: 89698
Wisconsin Historical SocietyAllen De Karske, 1967
Originally appeared in The Milwaukee Journal, June 18, 1967, with the caption: "Contest is for the Beards - With full beard and moustache waxed to a fine curl, Allen De Karske, N73-W13527 Appleton Ave, Menomonee Falls, won his way into the finals of his home community's beard contest Saturday. The event is part of Menomonee Falls' 75th anniversary celebration."
Image ID: 109141
Wisconsin Historical SocietyUnknown subject, 1908
Image ID: 90115
Wisconsin Historical SocietyJohn Muir, 1899
Waist-up studio portrait of famed Wisconsin naturalist, conservationist and writer John Muir.
Image ID: 3948
Wisconsin Historical SocietyUnknown subject, 1930
Image ID: 106424
Wisconsin Historical SocietyReuben Linstrom, 1982
Caption at the bottom of the frame reads: "Reuben Linstrom, as a young man, was a train hobo. 'I used to work around the railroads in Canada, roundehouses, locomotives, steam days then you know. I've been here in Madison I guess six years. They're doing a lot of fixing up on Williamson Street. I don't know how it's all going to end up. They used to have two railroads side by side here, you know.'"
Image ID: 119248
Wisconsin Historical SocietyUnknown subject and date
Image ID: 108302
Wisconsin Historical SocietyUnknown subject and date
Image ID: 107752
Wisconsin Historical SocietyGov. Nelson Dewey, 1889
Nelson Dewey (1813-1889), a lawyer and Wisconsin's first governor (1848-1852).
Image ID: 117520
Wisconsin Historical SocietyUnknown subject and date
Image ID: 107555
Wisconsin Historical SocietyUnknown subject, Civil War era
Copy photograph of a studio portrait of a Civil War era soldier.
Image ID: 107554
Wisconsin Historical SocietyUnknown subject and date
Image ID: 106031
Wisconsin Historical SocietyAsa Curtis Bennett, 1912
Image ID: 105710
Wisconsin Historical SocietyJeremiah Curtin, 1871
Image ID: 55881
Wisconsin Historical SocietyUnknown subject, 1875
Image ID: 27510
Wisconsin Historical SocietyHenry Alley, date unkown
Henry Alley examining just averaged queen bees in a cage nursery.
Image ID: 104198
Wisconsin Historical SocietyDeacon Hardscrebble, unkown date
Wisconsin honey producer Deacon Hardscrebble.
Image ID: 104201
Wisconsin Historical SocietyRep. Robert M. La Follette, circa 1885
Waist-up portrait of Robert M. La Follette at the age of 29 when elected to Congress in 1884.
Image ID: 30279
Wisconsin Historical SocietyRev. Samuel Eaton, 1864
Rev. Samuel Eaton was the chaplain of the 7th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, part of the Iron Brigade.
Image ID: 70748
Wisconsin Historical SocietyOle Torgerson, 1896
Vignetted carte-de-visite portrait of Ole Torgerson on his 70th birthday.
Image ID: 77513
Wisconsin Historical SocietyAdm. Melancthon Smith, circa 1880
Head and shoulders portrait of Rear Admiral Melancthon Smith, U.S.N.
Image ID: 100583
Wisconsin Historical SocietyGov. Jeremiah Rusk, 1862
Engraved portrait of Jeremiah Rusk, the 15th governor of Wisconsin and the first U.S. Secretary of Agriculture.
Image ID: 56244
Wisconsin Historical SocietyBenjamin Butts, 1877
Head and shoulders portrait of Benjamin Butts, which was part of a composite portrait of Officers, Clerks and Employees of the Wisconsin Assembly. He worked as a washroom attendant.
Image ID: 45152
Wisconsin Historical SocietyR.L. Joiner, 1890
Quarter-length portrait of R.L. Joiner, from a composite of images of the Wisconsin Senate.
Image ID: 45634
Wisconsin Historical SocietyJohn Hazen Hill, cica 1910
Waist-up studio portrait of a man identified as John Hazen Hill (XeTeNiShaRaKah), of the Ho-Chunk nation. He served in the Civil War with the 14th Kansas Volunteer Cavalry Regiment and was reportedly of mixed blood, with a European American father.
Image ID: 62877
Wisconsin Historical SocietyL.O. Harnecker, 1898
Quarter-length studio portrait of L.O. Harnecker, agent at Mexico.
Image ID: 24034
Wisconsin Historical SocietyThomas Turvill, 1897
Image ID: 111614
Wisconsin Historical SocietyCyrus Hall McCormick, circa 1866
Portrait of Cyrus Hall McCormick (1809-1884). This portrait was reportedly a favorite of his wife Nettie Fowler McCormick (1835-1923). McCormick was a Chicago industrialist and inventor in 1831 of the first commercially successful reaper, a horse-drawn machine to harvest wheat. He formed the McCormick Harvesting Machine Company in 1848 to manufacture and sell his invention, and through innovative marketing techniques the Chicago firm grew into the largest farm equipment manufacturer in the United States. The company eventually became part of the International Harvester Company.
Image ID: 8360
Wisconsin Historical SocietyCarl Schurz, 1879
Image ID: 3926
Wisconsin Historical SocietyUnknown subject and date
Image ID: 107679
Wisconsin Historical SocietyJulias Wooster, 1856
Julias Wooster of Racine.
Image ID: 27917
Wisconsin Historical SocietyJack Hauber, 1961
Side profile of Jack Hauber who won one of the "Smith Bros." awards for his beard's similarity to those of the famed cough drop brothers. Published in Wisconsin State Journal on March 12, 1961.
Image ID: 113329
Wisconsin Historical SocietyProf. Irving Roland, 1879
Image ID: 102203
Wisconsin Historical SocietyMichael Kruszka, circa 1890
Studio portrait of Michael Kruszka, Representative of the 8th District in the Wisconsin Assembly.
Image ID: 87498
Wisconsin Historical SocietyJohn W. Quinney, 1849
Oil portrait of John W. Quinney (1797-1855).
Image ID: 49
Wisconsin Historical SocietyRobert Hall McCormick, circa 1870
Portrait of Robert Hall McCormick (1847-1917), son of Leander James McCormick (1819-1900).
Image ID: 43123
Wisconsin Historical SocietyAugust and Margarthe Streb, circa 1885
August Streb poses next to his wife, Margarthe Orb Streb.
Image ID: 117155
Wisconsin Historical SocietyKent Wood, 1897
Image ID: 110781
Wisconsin Historical SocietyUnknown subjects, 1893
Image ID: 29168
Wisconsin Historical SocietyN.M. Juneau, 1856
Quarter-length oval portrait of N.M. Juneau. He was born in Green Bay on November 14, 1821, and resided in Theresa, Dodge County.
Image ID: 27778
Wisconsin Historical SocietyGov. Jeremiah Rusk, 1883
Jeremiah Rusk, the 15th governor of Wisconsin.
Image ID: 117795
Wisconsin Historical SocietyEdward Holden, 1881
Edward Holden was a Professor of Astronomy and Director of the Washburn Observatory from 1881-1885.
Image ID: 100773
Wisconsin Historical SocietyJames Strang, 1855
From the back of the print: James Jesse Strang from a daguerreotype (now lost) taken about a year before his death. Watson says this is the most natural picture of Strang he has seen. Watson knew Strang from 1852 until his death in 1856.
Image ID: 125085
Wisconsin Historical SocietyCpl. Chris Early, 1861
Waist-up carte-de-visite portrait of Corporal Chris Early, Company K, 13th Wisconsin Infantry. Died on May 18, 1865 of a disease.
Image ID: 70200
Wisconsin Historical SocietyUnknown subject and date
Image ID: 105607
Wisconsin Historical SocietyUnknown subject, circa 1897
Quarter-length studio portrait of a man with a long moustache, possibly Brockwau. Appears in the book Wisconsin Death Trip, by Michael Lesy.
Image ID: 28956
Wisconsin Historical SocietyPatrick O'Rourke, 1874
Portrait of Patrick O'Rourke, which is part of a composite photograph of the Wisconsin Senate and State officers.
Image ID: 97943
Wisconsin Historical SocietyCol. Theodor C. Rodolf, 1881
From History of La Crosse County, Wisconsin.
Image ID: 4511
Wisconsin Historical SocietyWilliam Metcalf, 1880
Image ID: 116268
Wisconsin Historical SocietyFrank Buhl, 1921
Image ID: 106281
Wisconsin Historical SocietyUnknown subject and date
Image ID: 106113
Wisconsin Historical SocietyUnknown subject and date
Image ID: 106234
Wisconsin Historical SocietySamuel Hunter Donnel, date unkown
Sixth plate daguerreotype of Samuel Hunter Donnel. Hunter Donnel was born in Pennsylvania and emigrated to Madison after marrying Rosellah M. Smith in 1854. He worked in partnership with August Kutzbock, a German-born and trained architect. It is presumed that Donnel was a draftsman and engineer. He died an untimely death in 1860 of lung disease.
Image ID: 106095
Wisconsin Historical SocietyUnknown subject and date
Image ID: 106036
Wisconsin Historical SocietyUnknown subject and date
Image ID: 105523
Wisconsin Historical SocietyUnknown subject and date
Image ID: 105514
Wisconsin Historical SocietyUnknown subject and date
Image ID: 105506
Wisconsin Historical SocietyGeroge Smith, date unknown
Image ID: 105161
Wisconsin Historical SocietyUnknown subject, circa 1860
Image ID: 103880
Wisconsin Historical SocietyJ.H. Denison, circa 1905
J.H. Denison was born in Seneca County, N.Y. in 1817 and settled in Sheboygan Falls in 1846, where he was still living in 1905.
Image ID: 103611
Wisconsin Historical SocietyConrad Schmitt, date unknown
Conrad Schmitt (b. 1843), Sherwin Gillett's father-in-law.
Image ID: 103449
Wisconsin Historical SocietyFritz William Rasmussen, date unknown
Image ID: 102500
Wisconsin Historical SocietyFrancis W. Grant, 1910
Little is know about the formal training and background of architect Francis W. Grant. Born in 1868 in Ontario, Canada, Grant migrated with his parents to the U.S. at an early age and became a naturalized citizen in 1875. In 1897 he was hired as the "Superintendent of Construction" for the Wisconsin State Historical Society Building in Madison City, Wisconsin. After the project was completed in 1900, Grant began work for the U.S. Treasury Department residing in New York City. In 1903 his duties took him to Seattle, where he served as Superintendent of Construction for the post office and other federal projects.
Image ID: 100849
Wisconsin Historical SocietyCharles Fairchild, circa 1860
Waist-up studio portrait of Charles Fairchild in uniform. He was a paymaster in the U.S. Navy.
Image ID: 100550
Wisconsin Historical SocietyCol. C.A. Wood, 1863
Col. C.A. Wood posing for a full-length studio carte-de-visite portrait in his Union uniform.
Image ID: 109771
Wisconsin Historical SocietyRobert von Schlagintweit, 1869
Carte-de-visite portrait of Robert von Schlagintweit (1833-1885), German orientalist, geographer and explorer. Along with his oldest brother Hermann, Robert was one of the first Europeans to cross the Kunlun Mountain range. He became a professor of geography at the University of Giessen in 1863.
Image ID: 44758
Wisconsin Historical SocietyElbridge F. and Mary D. Ayer, 1845
Image ID: 121117
Wisconsin Historical SocietyChristoph Hotz, 1880
A native of Wertheim, Germany, Christoph Hotz was trained as an engineer in Germany before immigrating to Chicago in 1866. He was a partner with his father-in-law of a successful carriage manufacturing business in Chicago. He and his wife were friends of the family of Conrad Seipp, Chicago brewer and owner of Black Point Estate. Hotz was also the paternal uncle of Ferdinand Hotz, prominent Chicago jeweller and Door County, Wisconsin, landowner. The Wisconsin Historical Society houses a large collection of Ferdinand Hotz's photography.
Image ID: 117212
Wisconsin Historical SocietyUnkown subject, 1897
Image ID: 28962
Wisconsin Historical SocietyTheodor Bernhard, 1879
Theodore Bernhard, Watertown educator and member of the Assembly in 1854.
Image ID: 121559
Wisconsin Historical SocietyUnknown subject, 1897
Image ID: 28958
Wisconsin Historical SocietyUnknown subjects, 1964
Image ID: 79141
Wisconsin Historical SocietyUnknown subject, 1920
Image ID: 89680
Wisconsin Historical SocietyUnknown subject, 1920
Image ID: 89687
Wisconsin Historical SocietyJ.O. Barrett, date unknown
Image ID: 109966
Wisconsin Historical Society
