What smells like bacon, bourbon and hairy all over? The smiling faces at the “Night of Bourbon and Beards” event at the Morris Museum. Celebrating the museum’s current exhibit, “Beards: The Long and Short of It,” the fundraiser featured bourbon, beer, and bacon tastings paired with best beard and moustache competitions. Local establishments like New Jersey-based mobile bartending service the Tipsy Penguin shook things up with their bourbon cocktails like the “5 O’clock Shadow” and the “Burly Beard.” Mountain Lakes-based Frungillo Caterers served up chocolate covered bacon, bacon and avocado finger sandwiches and oh yes, maple cupcakes with bacon bits for dessert. With a small putting green presented by the Morris County Golf Club and a Maxum Cigar rolling station, it was a night for manly-men. Even gentlemanly: Saks Fifth Avenue presented a tie and fragrance stand, adding Tom Ford cologne to the already pungent aroma of bacon… and bourbon.
Several of the galleries were open for viewing (though, sadly, drinks and bacon were not allowed in the exhibit space). “Beards: The Long and Short of It,” which features over 100 objects including old-fashioned barber poles and shaving razors, traces the history of facial hair from its roots in ancient cultures to the modern day soul-patch. One wall of the interactive exhibit boasted photography by Greg Anderson, whose contemporary portraiture captured the spirit of beard competitors, ranging from swirling sideburns to winding mustaches. Across from the photography work is a chart recounting the best and worst of facial hair in the White House. From George Washington to Abe Lincoln, most early presidents were guilty of a little facial fuzz, though the trend seems to have tapered off in recent decades.
The night culminated in the beard and moustache competitions, with the winner taking home tickets to the Morris Museum Bickford Theatre and a Morris Museum family membership.