Comments by "Big Blue" (@bigblue6917) on "Why Didn't They Learn Anything From the American Civil War? I OUT OF THE TRENCHES" video.

In the British Army prior to WW 1 the soldiers were encouraged to grow a mustache which carried on into the war. It was thought that it made the soldier look more manly. But as you stated it went out of fashion because of the gas mask. Interestingly in Ancient Rome men were clean shaven until the Roman General Hadrian became emperor. He, as was common in the Roman Army, wore a beard. As the emperor and his wife dictated Roman fashion civilian men soon adopted the beard as well. There may have been an extra incentive here. You see Romans dry shaved, i.e. no shaving soap and no lather. And the razor was not very sharp, so you can imagine with what trepidation Roman men approached the barbers every morning. One Roman man proclaimed that after a visit to his barber he looked like a gladiator fresh from the arena. Another fashion that changed with WW 1 was the use of clay pipes. They were still in use up to WW 1 but could not the rigours of the trench. This is when smoking cigarettes became more common. Smoking was actively encouraged by doctors because of its relaxing effect on peoples nerves and this led to a greater use of cigarettes.
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