The Mystery of the French Fork
According to the Expanded Beard Type Chart, facial hair grow can be categorized in 33 types. Some of them are classics (mutton chops, goatee, Franz Josef), others are more modern (The Zappa and Super Mario), but only two are associated with a country: Old Dutch and French Fork.
The French Fork looks like the one shown left. The official definition is: A French Fork is a full beard that extends off the chin and is split down the middle into two segments. But, in spite of extensive research, I haven't been able to find out who invented or pioneered this beard type. As a matter of fact, all men that I found wearing a French Fork were not French, and all bearded French that I found were not equipped with a French Fork. Here are some examples of Unfrench Forks:
The only discovery I made is that the French Fork is a unisex beard — even girls can have one:
Other than that, the origin of the French Fork remains one of the greatest mysteries of our time. Does anybody know the answer?
Sat 27-Dec-08 | Posted in: History
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Comment from bo.bizon
Time: December 27, 2008, 11:19 pm
The french fork beard looks like the fork we used to eat snails. I don't know if this fork exists in other countries : it is a narrow fork with 2 teeth; we use it to pull the animal out the shell. We call it : "fourchette à escargot"