WW2 Haircuts

Let's not forget the "Mohawk" do of paratrooper fame:

 

My Dad's brother Sid and a couple of companions during his Royal Artillery days (probably 1942/42 or so, definitely prior to his transfer to the Ox & Bucks).



Pre-war regulars seemed to go higher, shorter and certainly from 1945 onwards, the US style crew-cut began to make inroads in the British army too.

 

Not army but Air Force - my uncle

 

hair styles dont change much

 

German haircut thread -
Axis History Forum • View topic - Men's hair styles...

...scary what some people do with and say about their and haircuts in general. Or is it just me?

 

Americans

 

Americans

Damned annoying, aren't we?B)

 

Looking at the little flags under the posters names I see Americans, Finns, Austrians, Germans, Australians, Czechs; Belgians, Brits, Romanians...

I haven't made a statistical analysis, but it appears most will be Americans, but what conclusion does that call for? I do not know, all I know is that I wouldn't be seen in some companies, that's why I come to this forum and not a few others I'm aware of, whatever the nationality of the membership.

Coming to what HB said, "scary", yes. This 'person' (not to say 'walt') would be the perfect candidate for some obscure W-SS 'nationality' unit, even if the ear-stud would consign him at once to some camp with a pink star pinned on him.



And about this one, the poster (Czech) asks what the name of the hairstyle is. Psychotic Misanthtrope style? Again, nothing to do with nationality...

 

well my lad appears to mimic his Grandfather without even knowing it

 

Surely the best haircut that portrays the WW2 era was Himmler's.A personal trait with him as he wished to project himself as a supreme example of the master race.

60 years ago the RAF recruitment centres could turn out a Himmler type haircut,usually applied by a civilian barber who took a great delight in shearing off the locks of those recruits who had the audacity to turn up with a fashionable haircut.

After recruit training,the emphaise was on technical training,then on to an operational squadron where the main purpose was to get the flying hours/exercise training in.Haircut discipline was relaxed, although we went through a period where we all had crew cuts by choice.Haircut discipline only then arose if one crossed the station SWO man.

As an added point.During the war the government encouraged barbering to be continued in industrial worktime for the sake of productivity.This continued into the 1950s when it was quite common to see barbering performed by the older types at a convenient time when there was a slack time slot in the productivity process.

Looking at the shaved heads of today,I always associate them with the treatment of those incarcerated with the Nazi regime.Never thought it would be accepted as fashionable.Mind you, there can be nothing worse than a Bobby Charlton comb over.

 

I don't like the general conseption that Germans would have bald or extreamly short hair. It seems that it was only needed to be short on the sides and back for the regulation, but you could have it as long as you wanted on the front.

But i have seen some with very long hair. Such as this fellow that i can only assume to be an artillery gunner, that was taken out in the battle of Kursk

 

See the link in post no. 20, you'll see all kinds of lengths there.

But good find, your post above.

(The artillery piping would be red, and this guys piping looks like something too light for that, possibly infantry - white. But that's a different can of worms!)

 

Adam,

Could that last picture advert be the cause of the RAF personnel receiving the nickname "Brylcreem Boy's"

Just a thought.

Regards
Tom

 

Well it's not his job that we need to look at, but his hair. Maybe it was in the eastern front that rules were alot more relaxed. I don't really know, i've seen unshaven SS troops in france so anything is possible.
And Brylcreem? Is that like wartime hairgel?

 

Careful:

http://www.ww2talk.com/forum/222293-post8.html


Hmm, yes, the vagaries of film types and all the other variables making it impossible to evaluate BW photographs. Thank you for the heads up.

Well it's not his job that we need to look at, but his hair. Maybe it was in the eastern front that rules were alot more relaxed. I don't really know, i've seen unshaven SS troops in france so anything is possible.

Yes, everything is possible, conditions varied day to day. No grounds to make sweeping statements such as East Front being more or less strict than West.

Brylcreem? Since 1928 Brylcreem: Hair styling for men Brylcreem - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

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Getting the proper hairdo was a serious matter in Nazi Germany.