> (BTW, the reason he had a toothbrush mustache (even though many advised him to shave it because it provided cannon fodder for caricaturists) is because he thought his nose was big and a mustache distracted from it.)
Actually it was a common mustache style through the 1940s. It marked the wearer as a WWI trench veteran as it would fit under the gas mask. Until the outbreak of conflict with Germany in 1938 it was quite common in the UK and France as well as Germany, Austria, and Italy, as can easily be verified by any number of contemporaneous photos. Note that the toothbrush mustache was worn by veterans of all classes in Peaky Blinders, for example.
The small mustache actually accentuated the size of his nose, but he was proud (and it was valuable) for him to be a veteran.
Actually it was a common mustache style through the 1940s. It marked the wearer as a WWI trench veteran as it would fit under the gas mask. Until the outbreak of conflict with Germany in 1938 it was quite common in the UK and France as well as Germany, Austria, and Italy, as can easily be verified by any number of contemporaneous photos. Note that the toothbrush mustache was worn by veterans of all classes in Peaky Blinders, for example.
The small mustache actually accentuated the size of his nose, but he was proud (and it was valuable) for him to be a veteran.