By 1896, the beard trend of the Gilded Age was fading, especially among younger men. The Civil War vets would keep their grizzled old beards, but the Progressives would eschew such resplendent facial hair. Williams’ Shaving Soap actively worked to take advantage. What better way to advertise than bipartisanship? Especially in 1896. Gold bug or silverite, imperialist or anti-imperialist, strong tariff man or weak tariff man, who didn’t need to shave?