THE CAT’S IN THE CRADLE 1904
GETTY IMAGES
Frenchman Louis Coulon, born in 1826 and seen here with a perplexed moggy peering from his beard, was the star of many a Victorian postcard, all on account of his almighty facial hair. Allegedly, Coulon had to begin shaving at the age of 12, swiftly blunted his razor and by 14 is thought to have had willowy whiskers some 50cm long. At the time this photo was taken, Coulon was nearly 80 years old and apparently had a beard measuring a jaw-dropping 11ft. Despite his stardom on paper, history has denied Coulon a world record – the longest known beard in history belonged to Norwegian-American Hans Langseth, whose beard was measured at 17ft 6in on his burial in 1927.