Sheet Music of the Week: Great Mustaches Edition

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"The Captain with his whiskers," by C. L. Peticolas. Richmond: J.W. Randolph, 186?

The annual World Beard and Mustache Championship is several months away.  In the Muse, while personally lacking in competition-level hirsuteness, could not wait that long to share this specimen with its readership.

The Music Division’s Civil War Sheet Music Collection contains a number of pieces composed or arranged by C. L. Peticolas, including the “Appomatox Waltz.”  I will leave judgment of his musical merits to others. For sheer aesthetic pleasure,  this lithograph by E. Crehen distinguishes  ”The Captain with his whiskers” far above the rest.

Last year’s “Best in Show” at the World Beard and Mustache Championship went to the German Elmar Weisser. Were this nameless Confederate Captain to rise from the dead, he would certainly return the crown to American shores . Visit previous odes to the mustache on In the Muse, and be sure to follow our colleagues at the Archives of American Art Blog,  who are known to search their photographic files for facial hair specimens of note.

2 Comments

  1. John Sayers
    January 20, 2012 at 2:42 pm

    I just know, one of these days, “Great Mustaches of the Library of Congress” will be a trending meme…

  2. Pat Padua
    January 20, 2012 at 2:50 pm

    Or #gmloc for short!

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