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about beards.org

All About BEARDS For Twenty-eight Years

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An important date in beard history!

On January 17, 1996, from San José, California’s Blossom Valley, the All About BEARDS site made its debut on the worldwide web. All About BEARDS was the first website exclusively devoted to all aspects of beards. Visitors to the new site were greeted with “Welcome to the home of excellent beards!” The site was founded on principles of promoting excellence in all things beard related. Ever since that January day in 1996, All About BEARDS has been relentlessly unapologetic in its steadfast promotion of beards and beard acceptance.

Twenty-eight years All About BEARDS. Beard image 002: Scott.
BEARD: Scott. Click on image to view larger.

All About BEARDS and beards.org

This website started out with the name All About BEARDS, which has remained the site’s official name since January 17, 1996. All About BEARDS was first hosted on AOL (America Online) member web space. The original URL for All About BEARDS was http://members.aol.com/beardguy, which is no longer active.

All About BEARDS acquired the beards.org domain in 2004. The domain was put up for auction on eBay. Once the ownership of the domain was transferred to All About BEARDS, a teaser was put up on beards.org in advance of the official debut of All About BEARDS at its new permanent home.

Three days after All About BEARDS’ ninth anniversary, the site made its official move to beards.org on January 20, 2005. Ever since then, the site has been known as both All About BEARDS and beards.org.

After All About BEARDS’ move to beards.org, the original site on members.aol.com remained online as a legacy site, with no new updates. On October 31, 2008, AOL shut down members.aol.com, taking down the legacy version of All About BEARDS with it.

Twenty-eight years All About BEARDS. Beard image 003: Tomas.
BEARD: Tomas. Click on image to view larger.

What All About BEARDS is all about

BEARDS! All About BEARDS will always be dedicated to all aspects of beards. The site’s main focus continues to emphasize:

  • Promoting beards: Being a positive voice that remains steadfast in supporting beards in every way possible.
  • Increasing beard acceptance: Encouraging others to view beards positively, including reevaluating any preconceived negativity they may feel against beards.
  • Educating about beards: Providing solid information about beards as a service to all interested in growing a beard or for anyone with simply an interest in the topic of beards. Key beard information provided includes proven advice on successful beard growing, grooming, and maintenance.
  • Providing beard inspiration: It’s important to All About BEARDS that the site inspires men all around the world to grow their beards. The site serves up inspiration via photos, videos, individual beard stories, informational articles, and more. The more bearded men we have in the world, the greater the acceptance of beards becomes.

One of the website’s most important undertakings is the dedication to pursuing high-quality documentary beard photography. All About BEARDS is pleased to present our original beard photography throughout the site. Examples include all of the photos you see in this post.

Twenty-eight years All About BEARDS. Beard image 004: Tomas.
BEARD: Tomas. Click on image to view larger.

Thanks for growing with All About BEARDS.

It has been a privilege and an honor to hear from men from every continent who have grown their beards. I’ve heard from beard-growing medical doctors, attorneys, chefs, welders, carpenters, artists, musicians, real estate agents, insurance agents, railroad workers, athletes, students of all ages, law enforcement officers, retired military veterans, construction workers, and many, many, more — from all walks of life and from every profession imaginable.

I can’t thank you enough for your kind feedback and friendship over the years.

All About BEARDS. Now let’s all keep on growing!

about beards.org

All About BEARDS For Twenty-five Years

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Growing better beards, worldwide, since 1996!

All About BEARDS was launched on the worldwide web twenty-five years ago today. The mission has always been to promote beards and beard acceptance as well as to provide men with information, support, encouragement, and inspiration to grow the best beards possible.

All About BEARDS, a steadfast advocate for beards, is the world’s longest-running beard website. The site has never wavered in supporting beards regardless of the degree of popularity beards may have at any given time. A core principle promoted by All About BEARDS is that the decision to grow a beard should not depend upon the whims of fashions or trends. Each individual man always should have the right to grow his beard as he sees fit.

When All About BEARDS started in January 1996, beards were far less common than they are today in 2021. I’ve been promoting beards for the long haul, including long stretches during which beards were not exactly viewed as being cool. I’m proud that All About BEARDS was standing up to promote beards during times when not many others were.

In my twenty-fourth anniversary post last year, I shared some reflections on how far we’ve come in advancing the prevalence and acceptance of beards. Here at the beginning of 2021, beards are seen in numbers similar to those of one year ago.

While the bearded cause has come a long way, there is still a long way to go. Casual, everyday observation reveals that there are far more shavers than beard growers. It is heartening to see beards represented in large numbers in television commercials and in other media. However, it seems that in real life I don’t see so many beards out and about. I’d like to see a lot more growth in the number of beard growers. And the need to reduce anti-beard bias still remains.

Celebrating our past and a better bearded future

For All About BEARDS‘ tenth anniversary I created the following graphic to showcase some of the site’s highlights back then.

All About BEARDS tenth anniversary beard showcase image
All About BEARDS tenth anniversary beard showcase image from 2006.

You can still view any of the tenth anniversary highlights seen above by following these links.

Top row:

Middle row:

Bottom row:

During 2021 watch for upcoming special twenty-fifth anniversary content that you won’t want to miss.

Stay strong and grow your beard

All About BEARDS twenty-fifth anniversary image featuring Mike and John
Mike and John during a frigid, winter All About BEARDS photo shoot in Kansas City, Missouri

A better bearded future depends on you. Grow your beard. Encourage others to grow their beards. When possible, respectfully speak out against anti-beard bias.

This site is All About BEARDS and it’s all about adding more beards to the world. Grow your beard!

about beards.org

Happy New Beard Year 2021

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One year ago today I was full of optimism for the new year and new decade. Before long, however, nothing turned out how I expected for 2020. I am not alone in experiencing the year that way.

Sometimes I wonder if I should not express optimism at the start of a new year. Too many times, years that started out brimming with optimism and new hope seemingly turned out all wrong. Sometimes I have to remind myself that it’s important to hold on to optimism no matter what. That’s what keeps us moving onward toward better days.

Look with favor upon a bold beginning.

Virgil

This quote from Virgil came to mind when I sat down to write this post. Every day can be a bold new beginning. New Year’s Day is always a good time for a new bold beginning. While the first day of 2021 may not be a complete reset from the final days of 2020, we can choose to approach it as a bold new beginning.

Look with favor upon a bold beginning: Chris and his beard

For 2021, let’s boldly grow our beards and encourage others to join us. Growing a new beard is a wonderful bold beginning. Don’t hold back. Grow your beard.

Throughout 2021, let’s always strive to do our best. Be kind to each other. Be helpful to one another. Go forward with a heart full of compassion, optimism, hope, and courage.

Today and every day I will “look with favor upon a bold beginning”. I urge you to do the same. Now I wish all beard-growers, beard fans, and their families, friends, and colleagues a happy and prosperous 2021!

about beards.org

Twenty-one years, all about beards

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All About BEARDS celebrated its twenty-first anniversary on January 17, 2017. This video featuring photos and video from selected beards.org photo shoots marks the momentous occasion!  Many thanks go to all of the site’s friends from throughout the years.

about beards.org, beard photo shoots

Maybe a great beard is just what you need this year.

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all about beards' twentieth anniversary
Today is the site’s twentieth anniversary!

It began with the heartfelt desire to communicate to the world that beards should not only be accepted, they should be appreciated and encouraged.  This also included the objective of providing would-be beard growers with useful beard-growing information, inspiration, and support.

Building strength through numbers, the idea was to get as many men as possible to grow their beards.  The more beards there are, the more common a sight they become.  Over time, this leads to greater acceptance of beards as “normal”.  And the more acceptance beards gain, pervasive anti-beard bias begins to subside more and more.

Chris' amazing beard progress

It is deeply gratifying to know that all about beards has encouraged thousands of men all around the world to grow their beards.  Even though not all have kept their beards, each one counts as a victory because at least they all got to experience what it is like to grow your beard and be a bearded man.  It is also gratifying to hear from these newly-bearded men how proud they are of their beards and how great they feel about themselves with their beards.

Just as important as encouraging men to grow their beards has been providing them with the information needed to grow their beards properly and to avoid common beard-ruining mistakes.  Whenever I see a man in the beginning phase of growing a beard who has already badly misshapen the nascent beard, I am reminded that the site’s information on how to properly grow a beard still needs to spread further.

Chris' amazing beard progress

All about beards launched on the worldwide web twenty years ago today on January 17, 1996.  It started out on AOL member web space where it began to grow and thrive.  The original URL, now-defunct, was http://members.aol.com/beardguy .  All about beards moved to its new permanent home at beards.org on January 20, 2005.  To this day, all about beards continues to use the original beardguy@aol.com email address for regular correspondence.

Heartfelt thanks go out to all of the site’s loyal friends, supporters, and contributors.  Thanks for bearing with me as the site is going through some more growing pains.  The plan is for all about beards to keep growing and get better and better.

Chris' amazing beard progress

If after twenty years of all about beards you have not yet grown your beard, what are you waiting for?  all about beards guide to growing a beard!  Maybe a great beard is just what you need this year.

This post is illustrated with sample photos from another beard growth progress photo shoot with Chris a few days ago.  Chris’ amazing beard growth is just getting started and is making fast progress.   Click on any photo to see a larger version.  Use your browser’s back button to return to this page.

Chris' amazing beard progress

See more of Chris

View more photos of Chris with his incredible beard here:

Chris’ awesome, industrial-strength beard

Bearded at night: Chris

Beard update: Chris

Chris: beard thick and strong

about beards.org

all about beards: site renovations

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We are all about beards.

Today all about beards launched phase one of our site renovation at www.beards.org !  Please excuse any inconvenience should you find something not working during this transition.  Everything is pretty much working now, but small issues may still be found here and there until all are identified and eliminated.  More changes and improvements are on the way.

about beards.org

Our nineteenth anniversary

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All about beards' nineteenth anniversary
On January 17, 1996 a modest web site named all about beards made its debut on the web. Starting out on AOL web space — the now defunct “http://members.aol.com/beardguy” — the site moved to its permanent home at beards.org on January 20, 2005. Profound thanks go out to all of our friends and supporters over these years!

about beards.org

10,000 likes for beards.org on Facebook!

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beards.org Facebook page

Thank you, everyone, for all the likes!  The beards.org Facebook page started on February 12, 2010.  Today we reached 10,000 likes.  It’s great to have you with us.  Your participation on the Facebook page is much appreciated.

If you haven’t “liked” the beards.org Facebook page yet, today is a great day to do it.  Click on the image to go to the beards.org Facebook page and then click on “Like”.

about beards.org

seventeen million?

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Scott

Oops!  The gallery views counter hit seventeen million…sometime.  It was about a week ago.  I missed it.  Oh, well.  Here’s a little belated commemoration of the momentous occasion!  Photo above is another preview shot from Scott’s beards.org photo shoot.  His beard feature will appear one of these days…soon, I hope!  Stay tuned.  Oh, and thanks, everyone, for all your interest in all about beards!

about beards.org

sixteen million!

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beards.org 16 million!

The hits just keep on coming here at beards.org.  On the afternoon (US Pacific Time) of March 25th, 2011, the gallery views counter rolled over to sixteen million!  We hit fifteen million back on January 2nd, 2011.  The counting only began back on January 26th, 2006.  So the real number is unknown but much higher.

I wasn’t here to see which was the sixteen millionth photo.  So I selected one of Andy’s photos to illustrate this post.

Thanks for your interest in “all about beards”!