The Victorian era Beards Why were beards a big thing in the victorian era? Beards were very popular in the mid-19th century. They were worn for fashion, symbols, for medical reasons, and for social classes, but a lot of the reasons were from influential people of the 1900s. Such as Edgar Allen Poe who wrote “The Raven” and Charles Dickens who wrote “Great Expectations.” They both experimented with facial hair at the same time (Hawksley). Charles Dickens loved his facial hair so much he had to tell his friends and the people. Charles said ,"The moustaches are glorious, glorious. I have cut them short, and trimmed them a little at the ends to improve their shape. They are charming, charming. Without them, life would be a blank." The two