The Rogue's Retreat: An Hiſtorical Blog That Explores 18th-Century Maritime and Medical Curioſities

Did pirates wear beards? Not really... Main Point: In the eighteenth century living history community, a debate rages which may seem inane to the outsider: should men portraying Anglo-American sailors, soldiers, laborers, or aristocrats have facial hair? Few spectators at events in the Southeast (where I live) will see a pirate reenactment (early 1700s) or a Revolutionary War reenactment (c. 1770s-80s) where at least 1/3 of the men aren't fully-bearded (in the manner you see on Duck Dynasty).  As we'll discuss below, the preponderance of both primary and secondary evidence suggests that while facial hair was not unheard of, it was exceedingly rare on most Anglo-American men of the era.    I'm not advocating forcing every reenactor to shave. It is a personal choice of course like piercings and tattoos... The 18th-century maritime living history unit that I am the captain of, The Crew of the Charles Revenge ,   has adopted what we believe to be a middle-ground app...