Shenandoah (beard)

This article is about the beard style. For other uses, see Shenandoah (disambiguation).

File:Edward Bates - Brady-Handy.jpg

Edward Bates wearing a Shenandoah beard

A Shenandoah is a style of facial hair or beard. The hair is grown full and long over the jaw and chin, meeting with the sideburns but lacking a moustache.

Other names for this style are chin curtain, Donegal, Lincoln and spade beard. The Shenandoah tends to be somewhat longer than the chin curtain.

Abraham Lincoln wearing a chin curtain beard.

The chin curtain beard is a particular style of facial hair that grows along the jaw line and covers the chin completely. This is not to be confused with the chinstrap beard—a similar style of beard that also grows along the jaw line but does not fully cover the chin. In addition, many chin curtain beards do not extend that far below the jawline, if at all, whereas all chinstrap beards generally do.

This style of facial hair was made famous by individuals such as Abraham Lincoln.

In Spain, it could be largely associated with 1970s progres and other cultural icons, such as writer Álvaro Pombo.

In the United States, the beard style remains common among married Amish men. Male members of the sect generally grow a beard after baptism, but shave the mustache off as it used to be associated with military service.

An Amish man with a Shenandoah beard.

Notable examples

Herman Melville, c. 1846–47. Oil painting by Asa Twitchell.

• Peter Cooper, an American industrialist, inventor, and philanthropist.
• Alexander Mackenzie, PC (January 28, 1822 – April 17, 1892), a building contractor and newspaper editor, was the second Prime Minister of Canada from November 7, 1873 to October 8, 1878.
• Moondyne Joe, Australian bushranger.
• Young Herman Melville, the future author of Moby Dick
• Abraham Lincoln, 16th President of the United States
• Brigham Young, who led the Mormon pioneers to the Utah Territory.
• C. Everett Koop, former Surgeon General of the United States.
• Kevin Kelly, founding executive editor of Wired magazine, and a former editor/publisher of the Whole Earth Catalog
• Harry Knowles, American Movie critic.
• Shane Koyczan, Canadian poet and writer.
• James J. Andrews, American spy.
• Peter Lalor, Australian activist.
• Wayne Static, American musician from Static X
• David Ortiz, professional baseball player
• Antanas Mockus, Colombian mathematician and politician
• Freeway (rapper), American hip hop artist
• Alonzo Horton, nineteenth century American real estate developer

Fictional characters

• Daisuke Jigen, trigger man for Lupin III
• Zé Povinho, Portuguese everyman created in 1875 by Rafael Bordalo Pinheiro.
• Sarutobi Asuma from Naruto.
• Ganondorf from The Legend of Zelda
• Avatar Aang from The Last Airbender, as seen in The Legend of Korra
• The Disney animated series Gargoyles had a number of chin-curtained characters, notably Hudson, the oldest of the main gargoyles; the series' depiction of Macbeth from medieval Scotland - the basis of the eponymous figure of Shakespeare's play and still alive in the 20th and 21st centuries; and the Colm Meaney-voiced father of Irishman Rory Dugan in the episode The Hound of Ulster all sported them.