18/06/2023
Mustăcioara lor...
cups from the Victorian era (1837-1901) in the United Kingdom were devices that sat inside the cup and allowed one to drink from it while keeping their mustache dry. They were invented in the 1860s by British potter Harvey Adams. Mustaches were incredibly popular during the Victorian era, to the extent that the British military mandated all its soldiers to grow one from 1860 to 1916. These soldiers would often apply mustache wax to keep their facial hairs tidy and in place. However, drinking hot liquids such as tea or coffee would often cause the wax to melt, resulting in it slowly dripping into the cup. Mustache stains were also a significant concern for coffee/tea drinkers during this time.
In the 1860 book "Gentlemen's Book of Etiquette and Manual of Politeness," it was declared that mustaches must "never be curled, nor pulled out to an absurd length. Still worse is it to cut them close with the scissors. The mustache should be neat and not too large."
French writer Guy de Maupassant (1850-1893) once said, "A man without a mustache is no longer a man" and noted that their kisses "have no flavor, none whatever!"
Starting in World War 1, soldiers began to shave their mustaches instead of trying to groom them while living in the trenches. Production for these cups continued to decline after the war as mustaches began to go out of fashion.
~Historic Vids
