I read an article today on Smithsonian.com entitled "How Tuberculosis Shaped Victorian Fashion". In the article, it stated that the realization that TB and other infectious diseases were spread by germs resulted in beards becoming unfashionable and shaving becoming the standard for men in the early 20th century.

I was curious for more information so I did a Google search and found this great article: "A Hair-Razing History of the Beard: Facial Hair and Men’s Health from the Crimean War to the First World War".

This article goes into more detail on the reasons for the decline of the beard:

In North America, by 1901 the beard was considered a public health issue. The contamination of milk supplies in New York became an international headline when it was argued that facial hair could harbour farmyard dirt or tuberculosis, which could then end up in the milk, infecting it with deadly bacteria.[16] Consequently, the Milk Commission of the Medical Society of the County of New York put into place a regulation which ensured that only clean-shaven men would be allowed to milk cows and deliver their product to distribution centres.[17] This new rule also extended to doctors. Just like dairymen, doctors were exposed to bacteria and diseases which could become trapped in their facial hair, leading to suspicions of an increase in mortality rates among their patients.[18] By the First World War (1914-1918) removing facial hair had once again become common practice. With the popularization and mass-production of Gilette’s disposable razor (pictured below) and the military requirement that each man have a shaving kit and maintain a hair-free face, the beard declined in popularity.[19]

Also, early shaving brushes were responsible for the spread of anthrax between infected horses and the users of the brushes:

Achieving a clean-shaven face was not without its challenges, however. Many reports circulated in newspapers during the war that shaving brushes (pictured below) posed a major health risk to men on the front lines. Anthrax, an aggressive bacterial disease that can be passed from some farm animals to humans, infected and killed soldiers who had used contaminated brushes to apply shaving soap. An enquiry led by Dr. Francis Coutts revealed that the disease was being spread via cheap shaving brushes made from horse hair which had not been properly disinfected.[20] In a newspaper report from 1917, the British War Office accused a Montreal drug company of supplying infected brushes produced in the United States.[21] The fight against anthrax continued following the war, with horse bristle shaving brushes remaining a major problem for soldiers and civilians.[22]

I love history and trivia and found this topic to be extremely interesting and thought that some of you might also find it worth reading and/or discussing. That being said, I offer my apologies in advance if ya'll feel that this type of post is inappropriate/shitposty.

Oh- I almost forgot! The source for the quote in the post's title comes from this PBS "Did You Know?" article.