Thursday 11 July 2019

Nautical Hirsuteness


I was wondering yesterday why beards are associated with nautical people and reached the following theory.


In days of yore, when ships were made of wood, men were made of steel and pansy was the name of a flower, water was precious aboard the old square riggers. Water was for drinking and not for wasting on shaving. Salt water, however, was plentiful, but you can't raise a lather with salt water. Hence sailors would forgo shaving for the duration of a voyage, arriving home looking rather hirsute.

What about parrots though? Army personnel went abroad too.


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