For the past decade or so, more and more men have been growing out their facial hair. Back in the old days, however, men didn’t need a reason to cultivate their crumb catchers. Here are some of the most impressive whisker farms from the Valley’s past.

1. George Buffington

An early Eau Claire city father who at various times was a hotel owner, steamboat operator, sawmill owner, and mayor, Buffington also sported a classic walrus-style moustache.

2. William Carson

You likely know this Canadian-born 19th-century Eau Claire lumber baron because of the generous gift of parkland his heirs made to the city, but his contemporaries likely knew him for his silvery ’stache, which stretched ever-so-close to his sideburns. 

 

3. Lars Anderson

Anderson, if the name and stoic appearance didn’t give it away, was a 19th-century Norwegian immigrant farmer in rural Chippewa County. In 1976, his simple log home was moved to the Chippewa Valley Museum where it can be toured, but his phenomenal chin-plume can be viewed only in photographs.

 

4. Unknown Guy

Sadly the name of this man, photographed with his wiry whiskers at the Bonell Studio in Eau Claire between 1875 and 1890, has been lost to history. Still, check out that nutty ’stache!

 

5. Daniel Shaw

Not only did Shaw build a huge sawmill in a neighborhood that still bears his name (Shawtown) but he also grew a championship-caliber neck beard through sheer force of his backwoods will.