Hirsute Englishmen have made a London Saloon the shrine to gentlemen who sport “smashers”.
I came across this article from 1947 about The Handlebar Club quite by chance and thought it too good not to share! The club itself is still going strong to this day and you can find out more here: www.handlebarclub.co.uk
“One postwar problem that beribboned veterans of the war failed to foresee was the dreadful anonymity of civilian dress. How a group of young Englishmen have mastered this crisis is shown on these pages. The Handlebar Club at London’s Temple pub not only makes the moustache, which they call a “smasher” mandatory but also gives members hints on treatment of some moustache ailments (below). Founded by a former RAF cartoonist names William (“Raff”) Hooper and his friend Jimmy Edwards, the club now had many members who have grown such luxuriant lip adornments that they would look strange without them.”
