The Victorian era is remembered for its prim fashion, stiff portraits, and the all-important tradition of afternoon tea. Another key feature that defined the times was facial hair. Victorian men took great pride in their whiskers, but this important symbol of masculinity could make it difficult to enjoy that cuppa. Enter one of the era’s quirkiest inventions: the mustache teacup. In a uniquely Victorian way, this special teacup merged etiquette with innovation.
The influence of the British military, which had started favoring beards, as well as evolving gender norms and standards created a sort of mania for mustaches in the mid-19th century. Many prominent Victorians sported bushy beards, stylish sideburns, and manly mustaches. Facial hair fans of the time included Prince Albert, missionary David Livingstone (of “Dr. Livingstone, I presume?” fame), and author Charles Dickens. Dickens even published an essay titled ‘Why Shave?’ in a magazine he edited. He once declared in a letter to a friend that life without his mustache “would be a blank.”
Mustaches presented a unique problem for tea drinkers
Although mustaches were considered the height of fashion, they required upkeep and also presented a particular problem for wearers: they tended to get wet and soggy when exposed to liquids. They were also frequently styled with grooming wax that melted when exposed to hot tea steam and might then drip down an unfortunate drinker’s blushing cheeks.
So how was a mustachioed Victorian gentleman supposed to sip his daily tea in a dignified manner? A potter named Harvey Adams came up with a creative solution to the problem: he invented special teacups for mustache wearers. The cleverly designed cups featured inset shelves with small openings. These ledges, which spanned the inside of the cup, blocked the flow of tea from soaking a drinker’s whiskers while allowing liquid to neatly pass through the perforation.
Facial hair eventually waned in popularity, especially with the onset of World War I. Proper mustache and beard maintenance was far too tedious to keep up on the front lines of battle, and whiskers also made it difficult to securely seal a gas mask against the increased threat of chemical attacks. As facial hair mania faded, so did sales of mustache cups.
Adams’ simple but effective mustache teacups were soon being sold in a variety of sizes and styles, both with and without matching saucers. They made their way across the continent and then overseas, where they were scooped off department store shelves by eager American mustache-wearers.
The teacups are now prized antiques
Today, these charming little relics of Victorian days are highly sought after by collectors and can be viewed in specialty museums and archives around the world. The biggest publicly held collection of mustache tea cups in the United States is located at The Bell County Museum in Belton, Texas.
If a trip to Texas isn’t in your future, you can see a mustache teacup while watching reruns of The Andy Griffith Show. In Season 4, Episode 15, a local farmer surprises Aunt Bee with one as a gift. “A mustache cup! And with roses,” she happily exclaims while opening the package.
