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.