bearded unionists

Jimmeny

Hi Guys

I wasn't sure where to ask this but I thought boards was as good a place as any. Settling down to a spot of prime time (driven to it by the soccer epidemic) I noticed that 9 / 10 trade unionists wear beards. Can anyone tell me where this comes from?

thanks

James

oscarBravo

Laziness.






(At least, that's why I haven't shaved for the last five or six weeks. /strokes beard)

sceptre

It can be very cold in Moscow in the winter.

When Clement Atlee went to his first Fabian Society meeting in 1907 he turned to his brother and wondered if they had to grow beards to join the society. It would appear that the movement has had a tradition of beards going back before the October Revolution. I would suspect (because I don't know) that either manual workers had a tradition of growing beards at some point just before the turn of the century or else those who became the anti-management grew beards to make themselves look like the management they were arguing with (if beards were popular with the middle classes at the time, which as far as I know they weren't). I'm not trying to draw a comparison with the final pages of "Animal Farm" there. I can only assume the tradition was passed down in some manner.

it is an interesting question though. If I could think of somewhere more appropriate to move it in order to gain a better answer I would (and if my fellow mods can they probably willl) but here is probably as good a place as anywhere else on boards given the vague political ties to the question.

spanner

karl marx and lenin kind of (goatie come beard), stalin mustache, I think its a socialist thing with fondness for facial hair, making them look rough and working class

IronMan

Leather patches on their ancient tweed jackets, and smoking a pipe are still common features of the lesser spotted trade unionist. Approach with caution as interacting with them could result in death by righteous indignation.

bus77

IronMan wrote:

Leather patches on their ancient tweed jackets, and smoking a pipe are still common features of the lesser spotted trade unionist. Approach with caution as interacting with them could result in death by righteous indignation.

A bit like the poison dart frog of south america.

rsynnott

Presumably, Gillette isn't unionised