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There's nothing really newaboutbeards. Menhave been growing beards forthousands of years. If a man does not shave his chinand the sides of hisface,a beardwill grow.Long agoall men had beards.

The first men to shave off their beards were the early Egyptians.But not all Egyptians men shaved.Some spent hours caring for their beards.They dyed them, braided them,and even wove gold threads into them. The kings andqueens of Egyptsometimes wore false beards called postiches.A postiche was a sign of royalty. It was made of metal andattached to the chin withstraps of gold.

Some men in ancientGreece wore beards.They thought abeard was a sign ofwisdom. Socrates was a famous Greekwhowore a beard. He was also thought to be a wise man.

For hundreds of years, beards were not popular. Theybecamefashionable again in the 1500s.One style of beard was called the goatee.This small,pointed beard hangs from the lower lipand chin. It looks like the beard of a goat. In the 1600sanotherstyleof beard became popular. It was called the Vandyke. This beardwas named after a famous painter of the time, Anthony Vandyke.

Men wore their whiskers in still other ways in the 1800s. Somemen wore muttonchops. These are really side whiskers that areshaped like lamp chops.Muttonis another word forlamb.Another style was named after an American general. His namewas Ambrose E. Burnside. Burnside shaved his chin but grewshort whiskers on the sides of his face. At first people called theseburnsides. Later the name got mixed up and becamesideburns.