all about beards is on Facebook now. Click on the image above to visit the beards.org page on Facebook. Visit and like our page on Facebook! Support the bearded cause and help add more beards to the world. Click on the image above and like beards.org on Facebook!
On January 17, 1996, all about beards first appeared on the worldwide web. The site started out on web space provided for AOL members. The host name was members.aol.com. On January 20, 2005, all about beards officially moved to its permanent home at beards.org. The legacy all about beards site on members.aol.com was left up for sentimental reasons until AOL pulled the plug on it on October 31, 2008. All that remains of the AOL site’s legacy is that the official site contact email address is still the original AOL email address that has been used since the January 1996 launch of all about beards.
Today on the site’s fourteenth anniversary, the site is bigger and stronger than ever, with the momentum ever increasing. More importantly, the site has encouraged and inspired countless men around the world to experience the unique adventure of growing a beard with great success. The site remains dedicated to “growing better beards worldwide”, “adding more beards to the world”, and increasing the acceptance of beards everywhere. I’d like to thank all of the beard growers and supporters everywhere whose beard-growing contributions have strengthened all about beards and advanced the bearded cause around the world.
The gallery image counter hit eleven million views on January 6, 2010! We hit ten million on October 25, 2009. It would have been nice to hit eleven million before the end of 2009, but this is still close enough! The eleven million number, however, only represents the number of beard views since the counter started from zero on January 26, 2006.
This time, I wasn’t at the keyboard to see which photo was number eleven million. In consolation, I’m illustrating this post with a previously-unpublished photo of Christopher.
I wish you much happiness and happy beard growing in 2010! All about beards celebrates fourteen years on the web this month! This continues the site’s reign as the longest-running beard site on the web.
On the first day of this new year, it’s a good time to stop and give thanks. I am so thankful to all of the contributors from around the world who help make beards.org a shining showcase for beards, inspiring men around the globe to experience the joy of growing a beard. Thank you, all.
Looking back, all about beards had some pretty lean years. The message history for the all about beards Yahoo! group that’s been used to announce site updates since 2001 is telling. Here is how it appeared at the end of 2009:
The numbers represent the number of site updates announced each month. By 2001, the supply of content dwindled down to a trickle. In addition to the lack of new content, other problems impeded the site’s growth during those very lean years. 2001 through 2004 were especially barren because the beards of the world gallery did not debut until November of 2004 (originally called the bearded visitors gallery).
Eventually, digital cameras came to the rescue. The proliferation of digital cameras worldwide made it easy for beard growers everywhere to send in photos for the gallery. The beards of the world gallery has become the beating heart and pride of all about beards.
Thanks, everyone, for growing your beards! And by all means, keep showing off those beards here on beards.org! Send ’em in!
Have a wonderful 2010! Happy new beard year!
If not, start growing! Now is the time.
I frequently hear from new beard growers who are intimidated about letting their new beards grow much beyond the stubble stage. Fear not. Carry on. Let it grow. Too often, they express fear that a beard growing longer than stubble will be too long! These fears are unfounded. With a new beard, your self-perception is altered. The thought of going beyond stubble may terrify you, with visions of presenting a monster beard. A monster beard — or simply one that you feel is too big or too long — requires going far beyond stubble. Ease up. Don’t worry. Don’t stop growing.
If you’re growing a new beard, don’t stop before you’re done. Don’t stunt your new beard. Let it grow beyond the stubble without fear. Let it grow out, fill in, and blossom. Give it a fair chance.
A beard beyond stubble length is more of a real beard. If the stubble beard is what you really want, then keep it at that length. But if you’re growing a new beard, don’t be afraid to go beyond stubble. Otherwise, you deprive yourself and others of seeing your fully-grown beard in all its glory.
So how long should you let your new beard grow? You don’t have to let it grow to the size of Rich’s beard pictured above. But you should get closer to his length than clinging to the stubble range. See how you like the way your beard shapes up after passing the stubble stage. You may be pleasantly surprised. Rich’s beard, above, clearly demonstrates that a fully-grown beard can appear neat and well-groomed.
Keep growing!
Thinking about growing a beard? Here is the first thing that you should know about making that decision: forget about whether beards are in fashion or not. Grow a beard because you want to grow a beard, not to follow a trend. If beards seem to be “in fashion”, that’s great. The more popular beards are, the better. Nevertheless, whether they are popular or not, grow your beard because it is what you want to do. That decision should never be dictated by the whims of fashion.
After a much-too-long hiatus, the beards.org documentary beard photography project resumed activity yesterday with another original beard photo shoot. Dale, with his amazing beard growth, kindly agreed to the beard photo shoot. Here are some preview shots from March 20th, 2009.
all about beards made its first appearance on the web on the 17th of January of 1996. The site’s original objective was to promote beards in a positive manner. Thirteen years later, all about beards is the longest-running beard site on the web and the site remains dedicated to its original mission. We have come a long way, but there’s much more in store. With an eye on a bright future, our thirteenth anniversary year promises to be the best yet!
Stand up and cheer for a Happy New Beard Year 2009! Best wishes to all.