Peter Cooper

Peter Cooper (1791-1883) was an American industrialist and inventor who designed and built the first American steam locomotive. He was also a political activist, spending much of his life campaigning for slavery abolition and for better treatment of Native Americans. In 1876, at the age of 85, he ran for President as the candidate of the left-wing Greenback Party. Although this was a minor party and he had no chance of winning, his campaign remains notable since, to this day, he is the oldest person ever nominated by a political party for President of the U.S.

As you can see in the pictures below, Cooper wore the neckbeard for much of his life; and in his old age, it had become an astonishing example of the style. Few men have achieved a neckbeard of such proportions.

David Lewis

David Kellogg Lewis (1941-2001) was one of the most influential philosophers of the 20th century within the field of analytic philosophy; he made significant contributions to metaphysics, philosophy of logic, and philosophy of language. He was best known for his book On the Plurality of Worlds, in which he defended modal realism, the theory that every possible world exists in just the same way that the actual world exists. He was recently voted the 13th most important philosopher of the past 200 years at Leiter Reports.

This image below is from a photo of Princeton University's philosophy department in 1979, which can be seen in full here. Sadly, Lewis abandoned the neckbeard in his later years, and is more frequently pictured with a beard growing over his chin.

Joseph Dalton Hooker

Joseph Dalton Hooker (1817-1911) was one of the foremost English botanists. He led a number of important botanical expeditions and served for twenty years as director of Kew Gardens. He was a very close friend of Charles Darwin and an early defender of Darwin's theory of natural selection; Darwin once described him as "the one living soul from whom I have constantly received sympathy". As you can see, for much of his life he wore a truly remarkable neckbeard (and also some impressive eyebrows).

"Neck beard" in various languages

I mentioned in a previous post that "neck beard" in Welsh is "barf gwddf". This phrase has the drawback that "barf" is slang for "vomit" and that the second word has no vowels. Using Google translate, I have translated "neck beard" into various other languages. Here are some interesting translations:

Afrikaans - nek baard

Catalan - barba del coll

Croatian - vrata brade

Danish - nakke skæg

Esperanto - kolo barbo

Estonian - kaelarhai

Filipino - leeg balbas

German - nacken bart

Haitian Creole - kou bab

Hausa - wuyan gemu

Icelandic - hálsskegg

Igbo - n'olu n'olu

Latin - collum barbatum

Latvian - kakla barda

Luxembourgish - halsbart

Malagasy - balsama

Samoan - ū

Turkish - boyun sakal

Zulu - intamo intshe

Which is best? The Samoan "ū" is remarkable for its simplicity, but it doesn't feel appropriate as the name of a beard style. I quite like the Malagasy word "balsama", but this doesn't feel beardy to me; rather it makes me think of curry. I can imagine going to the local Indian restaurant to order a chicken balsama. The Latin "collum barbatum" is very cool, and the Esperanto "kolo barbo" sounds nice. I think my favourite is the Afrikaans "nek baard": it's fairly simple, it sounds similar to the English word, and it has a rough and rugged quality that is well-suited to the neckbeard as a beard style.

More neckbeards from 19th century Wales

Following from the previous post where I showed some 19th century Welsh neckbeards from the John Thomas photographic collection, here are a few more great ones. The John Thomas collection can be accessed here.

Henry David Thoreau

Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) was an essayist and poet whose life and ideas had a significant influence on the anarchist, environmentalist, and simple living movements. He once spent two years living alone in a tiny cabin in the middle of the woods, a time he documented in his book Walden, which became his most famous work. Shortly after returning to civilization, he grew a wonderful neckbeard:

This photo is important to me because it was what inspired me to grow my own neckbeard. I had never seen a beard quite like this before. Unfortunately, Thoreau did not keep the neckbeard permanently; this photo was taken in 1856, and a picture of him made a few years later shows him with a full beard.

Although I have been unable to find the original source for this quote, I have read elsewhere that Thoreau claimed to wear the neckbeard as a means of warding off "throat colds". Of course, a lesser man would have simply used a scarf.

Neckbeards in Wales, 1800s

In contrast to its poor reputation today, in 19th century Wales the neckbeard appeared to be rather fashionable. John Thomas was a Welsh photographer who took portraits of average Welsh people, in many of which men can be seen wearing the neckbeard. The style was especially popular among the Welsh clergy, who I will discuss in a later post. Today, I provide a few examples of other Welsh men with neckbeards. Interestingly, John Thomas himself wore the chin curtain, a close relative of the neckbeard (see this photo). The John Thomas photographic collection can be accessed here.

According to Google translate, "neck beard" in Welsh is "barf gwddf". This is rather unfortunate since "barf" is slang for vomit.

List of famous people who wore the neckbeard

This is a comprehensive list of all the notable people who wore the neckbeard at one time or another. In some cases, they are more well-known for other beard styles, but for all people on this list photos or pictures exist of them with a neckbeard.

Absalom Austin Townsend (1810-1888)

Albert Southworth (1811-1894)

Alexander Bain (1818-1903)

Alexander Esenin-Volpin (1924-2016)

Alfred O. P. Nicholson (1808-1876)

Alpheus Felch (1804-1896)

Andrew Jackson Davis (1826-1910)

Brigham Young (1801-1877)

Byron Kilbourn (1801-1870)

Calvin Ellis Stowe (1802-1886)

Camillo Benso, Count of Cavour (1810-1861)

César Franck (1822-1890)

Charles Knapp (1797-1880)

Charles N. Lamison (1826-1896)

Chauncey L. Knapp (1809-1898)

Clement L. Vallandigham (1820-1871)

Cyrus West Field (1819-1892)

Daniel Ullman (1810-1892)

David K. Lewis (1941-2001)

Ebenezer Brigham (1789-1861)

Edward Smith-Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby (1799-1868)

Edward Sorin (1814-1893)

Erastus Fairbanks (1792-1864)

Francisco Morazán (1792-1842)

Frederick Theodore Frelinghuysen (1817-1885)

George Alexander Macfarren (1813-1887)

George Henry Lewes (1817-1878)

Georges-Eugène Haussmann (1809-1891)

Gustav Kirchoff (1824-1887)

Hannibal Day (1804-1891)

Hannibal Hamlin (1809-1891)

Hector Berlioz (1803-1869)

Henry A. Wise (1806-1876)

Henry Beresford, 3rd Marquess of Waterford (1811-1859)

Henry Bruce, 1st Baron Aberdare (1815-1895)

Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862)

Henry James Sr. (1811-1882)

Horace Greeley (1811-1872)

Horatio Seymour (1810-1886)

Isaac Green Mitchell (1810-1881)

Ivar Aasen (1813-1896)

Jack Black, rat catcher (c. 1800s)

James Clyman (1792-1881)

James D. Williams (1808-1880)

James Skivring Smith (1825-1892)

James Young Simpson (1811-1870)

Jefferson Davis (1808-1889)

John Adams Dix (1798-1879)

John Braxton Hicks (1823-1897)

John Byington (1798-1887)

John C. Calhoun (1782-1850)

John Couch Adams (1819-1892)

John Taylor (1808-1887)

John Thomas Peele (1822-1897)

John Tyndall (1820-1893)

John Veitch (1829-1894)

Joseph Dalton Hooker (1817-1911)

Joseph E. Brown (1821-1894)

Joseph Emerson Worchester (1784-1865)

Julius von Mayer (1814-1878)

Karl Ernst von Baer (1792-1876)

Lajos Kossuth (1802-1894)

Lucius Robinson (1810-1891)

Marshall S. Howe (c.1810-1878)

Martin Harris (1783-1875)

Michael Costa (1808-1884)

Michael Phelan (1819-1871)

Moondyne Joe (1826-1900)

Moses Lard (1818-1880)

Moses Mendelssohn (1729-1786)

Nero (37-68)

Ormsby M. Mitchell (1810-1862)

Owen Thomas (1812-1891)

Owen Wynne Jones (1828-1870)

Paul Kruger (1825-1904)

Peter Christen Asbjørnsen (1812-1885)

Peter Cooper (1791-1883)

Richard Wagner (1813-1883)

Robert Browning (1812-1889)

Robert Bunsen (1811-1899)

Robert King Stone (1822-1872)

Samuel Joseph May (1797-1871)

Scott Spillane (d.o.b. unknown, c. mid-1900s)

Sergey Askakov (1791-1859)

Stephen Mallory (1812-1873)

Stonewall Jackson (1824-1863)

Ulrich Varnbüler (1432-1496)

Thomas Jessop (1804-1887)

Thomas Mercer (1813-1898)

Walter Booth (1791-1870)

William Clayton (1814-1879)

William Dennison Jr. (1815-1882)

William Empson (1906-1984)

William Gladstone (1809-1898)

William H. Eddy (1818-1859)

William Notman (1826-1891)

William P. Fessenden (1806-1869)

William Rees a.k.a. Gwilyn Hiraethog (1802-1883)

William Sterndale Bennett (1816-1875)

William Willis (1794-1870)

About the Neckbeard Society

The Neckbeard Society was created to celebrate and promote the neckbeard as a beard style, and to research the history and current status of neckbeards around the world.

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Brief FAQ:

What is a neckbeard?

In a neckbeard, hair grows on the neck but not on the face. To count as a neckbeard, the face must be clean-shaven to the bottom of the chin or lower. The neckbeard should not be confused with the more popular "chin curtain" beard, where hair is allowed to grow over the chin (the chin curtain was famously worn by Abraham Lincoln, for instance).

Why do we need a Neckbeard Society?

The neckbeard is currently one of the least popular beard styles. Indeed, it has such a low reputation that the word "neckbeard" is often used a derogatory slang term for unattractive and socially awkward men. The Neckbeard Society aims to resist this unjustified vilification of what is in fact a cool and sophisticated beard style.

How do I join the Neckbeard Society?

You can join the Neckbeard Society by sending me a photo of yourself wearing a neckbeard that I can put up on the blog.

Is this a joke?

No.

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The Neckbeard Society was founded by Kane Baker, who is also the current President of the Society.