'The Beard and Moustache Movement. John Bull in a Beard; or, The Advantages of Travel and Education.', 1854. John Bull, the personification of the United Kingdom in general and England in particular, is greeted with horror by his wife. In the accompanying text, Bull claims that the beard protects against toothache, coughs and colds, dust and smoke etc. His wife replies that if this were true, God would have given women beards too. From the Illustrated Family Paper.