Today, beards are commonplace, unremarkable bits of facial shrubbery. Even as conservative a figure as Sen. Ted Cruz sports one.But 50 years ago, a man choosing to wear a beard sent a political message.
It signaled participation in the counter-culture, a spurning of orthodoxy. George Carlin captured the threatening act of going bearded in a routine included on his 1972 comedy album FM & AM.“Here’s my beard.
Ain’t it weird? Don’t be skeered, it’s just a beard,” he riffed, continuing, “That’s the thing. The word ‘beard’ shook up a lot of people.
BEARD! It’s not American sounding. BEARD! Lenin had a BEARD!”Carlin told his audience he had sprouted a beard and grown his hair long around 1971.
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