Tony Robinson's Cunningcast

A Fan-tash-tic History of FACIAL HAIR

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Episode notes

Men’s facial hair is very prone to fashions: moustaches and beards are back in, but why is that and what sparks bread trends and facial hair fashions? To help him find out, Tony has invited ‘beard’ historian Alun Withey and male grooming influencer Robin James | Man For Himself. They discuss 17th Century notions of facial hair as a waste product; through barber-surgeons and early shaving practices; powdered wigs; the Victorian beard movement; King Camp Gillett’s safely razor; the First World War military moustache; film star fashion icons to the rising popularity of men’s hair products and male grooming.


Hosted by Sir Tony Robinson


X | Instagram


With


Robin James | Man For Himself


www.ManForHimself.com and IG @ManForHimself 


Exploring men’s hair, grooming, fragrance and lifestyle.


Dr Alun Withey | Historian


http://humanities.exeter.ac.uk/history/staff/withey/

 

Historian of early modern medicine and senior lecturer in History at the University of Exeter. Alun's major research project ‘Do Beards Matter?’, funded by the Wellcome Trust forms the basis of his book Concerning Beards: Facial Hair, Health and Practice in England, 1650-1900 (London: Bloomsbury, 2021). 


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Credits: 

 

Series Producer: Melissa FitzGerald X @melissafitzg

 

Executive Producer: Dominic de Terville

 

Cover Art: The Brightside

 

A Zinc Media Group production

 

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