Apr 24, 2009 10:28 AM |
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Good news! Amid the gloom of budget cuts, bursting property bubbles and bankruptcies, we take heart from the fact that Brooklynology won an honorable mention in 
the ArchivesNext Best Archives on the Web awards. That alone is a fine thing, but better yet, among the other winners is the University of Kentucky's "Mustaches of the Nineteenth Century" in the "Most Whimsical Archives-Related Website" Category--one of the most amusing blogs we have seen in a long time.
Never having met a good idea that wasn't worth borrowing, I thought we might occasionally bring to your attention a few of the finer Brooklyn moustaches of the nineteenth century. Were Brooklyn moustaches different from all other moustaches? Not at all, and yet it is worth pointing out that 
they did adorn masculine faces all over the City (and, after 1898, the Borough)-- a fashion, like hats, that is less often seen today. Today we feature two belonging to members of Brooklyn's Unity Club, described by the Brooklyn Daily Eagle as "the leading Hebrew social organization of the Borough..." Our impeccably preserved collection of cabinet cards depicting club members bears the name of each one on the verso, sometimes with a date. Of a type rarely seen today, these facial ornaments cover the upper lip and would certainly require the use of a moustache cup, a subject touched upon in our inspirational blog of the day.
One young staff member who shall be nameless disrespectfully referred to this style as a "krill filter." Really!
