Toothbrush moustache

Rare card · No. 66626

The toothbrush moustache is a style of moustache in which the sides are vertical (or nearly so), often approximating the width of the nose and visually resembling the bristles on a toothbrush. First becoming popular in the United States in the late 19th century, it later spread to Germany and elsewhere. Comedians such as Charlie Chaplin and Oliver Hardy popularized it, reaching its heyday during the interwar years. By the end of World War II, the association with Nazi leader Adolf Hitler made it controversial, leading to it being colloquially termed the 'Hitler moustache' or "Hitler Stash". After World War II, toothbrush variants were fashioned by a small number of notable people, e.g. American real-estate developer Fred Trump (who sported a split variant) and former president of Zimbabwe Robert Mugabe (covering only the philtrum). Remaining strongly associated with Hitler over subsequent decades, the style was used satirically in works of popular culture and political imagery, including...

Read on Wikipedia · Image First National, Public domain