Handlebar moustache
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A handlebar moustache is a moustache with particularly lengthy and upwardly curved extremities. These moustache styles are named for their resemblance to the handlebars of a bicycle.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> It is also known as a spaghetti moustache, because of its stereotypical association with Italian men.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The Handlebar Club humorously describes the style as "a hirsute appendage of the upper lip and with graspable extremities".<ref name=joynath>Template:Cite news</ref>
History
Similar styles of moustache are quite ancient, appearing on statues and other depictions of Iron Age Celts.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In the United States, handlebar moustaches were worn in the later part of the 19th century by Wild West figures like Wyatt Earp.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In Europe, handlebar moustaches were often worn by soldiers during the 19th century until roughly the era of World War I.
English comedy actor Jimmy Edwards grew his trademark handlebar moustache in the late 1940s in order to disguise facial injuries sustained as a pilot in World War II.<ref>Template:Cite odnb</ref>
In 1972, to win a $300 "best facial hair" prize offered by team owner Charlie O. Finley, Oakland A's pitcher Rollie Fingers grew a handlebar moustache which he sported throughout his career.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
More recently, the contemporary hipster subculture has embraced the handlebar moustache by mocking conventional ideals of fashion, and by combining a highly manicured handlebar moustache with the portrayal of an unkempt appearance or a haphazardly selected clothing ensemble.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Famous handlebar moustaches
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William Howard Taft<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
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Wilhelm II<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
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Joseph Stalin<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
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Buffalo Bill<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
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Bhagat Singh<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
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Prince Victor Napoleon
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Company mascots
- Julius Pringles
- Mr. Monopoly<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- Mr. Boh<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- Air India's Maharaja mascot<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- Terrible Herbst
Styles
This style is usually achieved by the use of moustache wax,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> although hair gel, a curling iron, or natural curling can suffice. Generally, the greater the curl of the extremities, the more dramatic the appearance achieved. When worn without wax or grooming, the moustache style may more closely resemble a walrus moustache.