In Chapter One, of Tarzan Of The Apes, we are introduced to Tarzan’s father, John Clayton I. Edgar Rice Burroughs, the narrator, (John Carter’s great-nephew), who describes him in great detail after the war.
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| John Clayton 1 |
From the records of the Colonial Office and from the dead man’s diary we learn that a certain young English nobleman, whom we shall call John Clayton, Lord Greystoke, was commissioned to make a peculiarly delicate investigation of conditions in a British West Coast African Colony from whose simple native inhabitants another European power was known to be recruiting soldiers for its native army, which it used solely for the forcible collection of rubber and ivory from the savage tribes along the Congo and the Aruwimi. The natives of the British Colony complained that many of their young men were enticed away through the medium of fair and glowing promises, but that few if any ever returned to their families.
.png "John Clayton i") |
| John Clayton i |
The Englishmen in Africa went even further, saying that these poor blacks were held in virtual slavery, since after their terms of enlistment expired their ignorance was imposed upon them by their white officers, and they were told that they had yet several years to serve.
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| Africa 1872 |
So The Colonial Office appointed John Clayton to a new post in British West Africa, but his confidential instructions centered on a thorough investigation of the unfair treatment of black British subjects by the officers of a friendly European power. Why he was sent, is, however, of little moment to this story, for he never made an investigation, nor, in fact, did he ever reach his destination.
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| Africa 1872 |
Clayton was the type of Englishman that one likes best to associate with the noblest monuments of historic achievement upon a thousand victorious battlefields—a strong, virile man—mentally, morally, and physically. In stature he was above the average height; his eyes were gray, his features regular and strong; his carriage that of perfect, robust health influenced by his years of army training.
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| Greystoke Coat Of Arms in the 1400s |
Political ambition had caused him to seek transference from the army to the Colonial Office and so we find him, still young, entrusted with a delicate and important commission in the service of the Queen. When he received this appointment he was both elated and appalled. The preferment seemed to him in the nature of a well-merited reward for painstaking and intelligent service, and as a stepping stone to posts of greater importance and responsibility; but, on the other hand, he had been married to the Hon. Alice Rutherford for scarce a three months, and it was the thought of taking this fair young girl into the dangers and isolation of tropical Africa that appalled him. For her sake, he would have refused the appointment, but she would not have it so. Instead, she insisted that he accept, and, indeed, take her with him. There were mothers and brothers and sisters, and aunts and cousins to express various opinions on the subject, but as to what they severally advised history is silent.
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| Rutherford Family Crest |
We know only that on a bright May morning in (1872) or 1888, John, Lord Greystoke, and Lady Alice sailed from Dover on their way to Africa. ERB, Tarzan Of The Apes. In Chapter Two of Tarzan Of The Apes, ERB: the narrator continues his description of John Clayton I, as he travels from Freetown, Sierra Leone, North Africa to his intended destination in Southern Africa. And even should they escape that fate was it not but to be faced with far graver dangers? Alone, he might hope to survive for years; for he was a strong, athletic man. ERB-Tarzan Of The Apes.
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| Claytons Sall From Dover |
There was a great quantity and variety of stuff, as the Claytons had expected a possible five to eight years’ residence in their new home. Thus, in addition to the many necessities they had brought, there were also many luxuries. ERB-Tarzan Of The Apes.
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| J. Alan St. John |
“There is but one thing to do, Alice,” and he spoke as quietly as though they were sitting in their snug living room at home, “and that is work. Work must be our salvation. We must not give ourselves time to think, for in that direction lies madness. ERB-Tarzan Of The Apes.
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| Roberto Castro |
In Chapter Three of Tarzan Of The Apes, ERB: the narrator provides information about John Clayton I, during his and Alice's abandonment on the coast of Portuguese Angola.
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| Russ Manning |
In his leisure Clayton read, often aloud to his wife, from the store of books he had brought for their new home. Among these were many for little children—picture books, primers, readers—for they had known that their little child would be old enough for such before they might hope to return to England. ERB-Tarzan Of The Apes.
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| Berne Hogarth |
At other times Clayton wrote in his diary, which he had always been accustomed to keep in French, and in which he recorded the details of their strange life. This book he kept locked in a little metal box. ERB-Tarzan Of The Apes.
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| Joe Kubert |
In Chapter Four of Tarzan Of The Apes, ERB the narrator provides information about the long-dead John Clayton I, on the day of his death by Kerchak, King of the Mangani. Inside the den they saw the strange white ape lying half across a table, his head buried in his arms; and on the bed lay a figure covered by a sailcloth, while from a tiny rustic cradle came the plaintive wailing of a babe. Noiselessly Kerchak entered, crouching for the charge; and then John Clayton rose with a sudden start and faced them.
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| Joe Kubert |
The sight that met his eyes must have frozen him with horror, for there, within the door, stood three great bull apes, while behind them crowded many more; how many he never knew, for his revolvers were hanging on the far wall beside his rifle, and Kerchak was charging.
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| Joe Kubert |
When the king ape released the limp form which had been John Clayton, Lord Greystoke, he turned his attention toward the little cradle; but Kala was there before him, and when he would have grasped the child she snatched it herself, and before he could intercept her she had bolted through the door and taken refuge in a high tree. ERB-Tarzan Of The Apes.
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| Pablo Marcos & Oscar Gonzalez |
In Chapter Eleven of Tarzan Of The Apes, ERB: the narrator describes the long-dead John Clayton I, for the last time in a picture the ape boy found in the cabin.
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| Joe Kubert |
When Tarzan is eighteen years old his foster mother, Kala the great ape, is killed by Kulonga the son of Chief Mbonga. Mbonga’s cannibal tribe fled the Belgian Congo after killing a white Belgian soldier and his native unit. Fleeing for their lives Mbonga’s tribe fled the Belgian Congo, southwest to the coastal area of Portuguese Angola, before stopping to construct a new village. These were the first humans Tarzan had ever come into contact with.
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| Franc Chio |
While seeking revenge on his foster mother’s killer the eighteen-year-old was introduced to the bow and arrows. The ape-man craved these new weapons, so that night arrows he stole them from the sleeping native. The following morning the jungle lord followed Kulonga to the newly constructed village. Within sight of the cannibal village, the vengeful tracker killed the Chief’s son and robbed him of his desired belongings. Afterward, the jungle man entered the village, stole arrows, and played his first jungle joke on the newly arrived natives.
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| Russ Manning |
Returning to the tribe the ape-man displayed his man treasures to his fellows. They nor Kerchek was impressed. Despite their lack of interest, Tarzan practiced daily with his newly confiscated weapons. Occasionally the jungle lord would visit the cabin by the sea, to spend a day with his coveted books.
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| Russ Manning |
It was during this period that the young English lord found hidden in the back of one of the cupboards in the cabin a small metal box. The key was in the lock, and a few moments of investigation and experimentation was rewarded with the successful opening of the receptacle.
In it he found a faded photograph of a smooth-faced young man, a golden locket studded with diamonds, linked to a small gold chain, a few letters, and a small book. Tarzan examined these all minutely.
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| Joe Kubert |
The photograph he liked most of all, for the eyes were smiling, and the face was open and frank. It was his father. ERB-Tarzan Of The Apes.
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| Joe Kubert |
Many researchers have translated ERB's description of John Clayton I, as being smooth-faced, into meaning clean-shaven, or beardless. Is that ERB’s intention? No, it is not. To prove this we must leave Tarzan Of The Apes for the moment, and research the real-life history of the mustache.
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| Tarzan Of The Apes |
Around 1585 the French were introduced to the mustache by the Turks. In this period the word mustache more or less meant groomed facial hair. During the Napoleonic Wars in the1800s, the British were introduced to the mustache by the French. The French mustache eventually went on to become an emblem of male prestige. On the other hand, when Tipu Sultan, the ruler of Mysore, celebrated his victory over the East India Company, he showed no respect for British soldiers. He displayed a painting depicting the clean-shaven British as if they looked boyish, or unmanly. Certainly the opposite of intimidating.
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| Turkish Warrior |
In 1831, the 16th Lancers of the Queen’s Army were officially permitted to wear mustaches. In the 1850s, respected journals such as The Westminster Review Illustrate London New and The Naval & Military Gazette began to present articles supporting the beard and mustache movement.
In 1853, a beard proclamation was published in Charles Dickens' popular magazine Household Words, entitled ‘Why Shave?’.This article promoted the benefits of facial hair so well that by 1854 Lord Frederick Fitz Clarence, Commander in Chief of the Bombay Arthe East India Company; gave orders making mustaches mandatory for the British troops of the India unit. The Crimean War began in October 1853, and British soldiers were once more required to wear a mustache.
When the war ended three years later in 1856, Queen Victoria wrote in her journal dated March 13, 1856, when the soldiers returned home was the picture of real fighting men……They all had their long beards and were heavily laden with large Not only in the military but after the mid-1850s, mustaches also stormed into British civil society. Even in the colonies, it was social death for a British man if he forgot to curl the ends of his mustache. At the gentlemen's club, presenting yourself with a shaved upper lip was considered as shameful as forgetting to put your trousers on.
By 1860 facial hair had become so accepted that mustaches had become mandatory under English law between 1860 and 1916. Every soldier in the British Army was forbidden from shaving his upper lip, or else it would have been considered a breach of discipline. The unshaven upper lip thus became the norm with British military uniforms and service. By descriptions of the time, a neatly trimmed mustache was considered clean-shaven.
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| British Military |
According to Etiquette For Every Day, a perfect mustache is one “that actively bristles at the ends and turns neither up nor down.” This was a tamed mustache, unlike a curved droop at the corner which suggested artistic temperament, or an upcurled mustache characteristic of the dandy.
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| Top 10 Mustache Styles |
Cecil B. Hartley, in The Gentlemen’s Book of Etiquette and Manual of Politeness: cautioned men to tread carefully along the line of ideal mustache grooming, warning against the effeminacy of over-grooming and the indecency of neglect: Hartley continues to say that the mustache "should never be curled, nor pulled out to an absurd length...It should be neat and not too large, and avoid such fopperies as cutting the points thereof or twisting them up to the fitness of needles."
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| Etiquette For Every Day |
On August 9, 1870, in response to the Franco-Prussian War, Parliament repealed the 1819 Act. The British Army Enlistment Act reduced the enlistment period from twenty-one to twelve years. For the infantry, the first six-year period was on active service. Most soldiers passed into the Army Reserve after a few years of active service. The following six were inactive duty, but available for recall for the remainder of their twelve-year term in the event of a serious national emergency.
The minimum length of actual service required varied according to branch. Six years for infantry, eight years for line cavalry and artillery, twelve years for the Household Cavalry, and three years for the Army Service Corps. For regular soldiers, the minimum age to enlist is sixteen, but soldiers under eighteen can't participate in operations.
By the end of the 1880s, the popularity of mustaches started to decline. Fashionable men in London started to prefer a clean shave. Facial hair was considered to harbor germs and bacteria. Shaving beards, while patients were hospitalized, became a norm.
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| Mustache Chart |
We know John Clayton I, was under government contract for at least twelve years and could have been more. If Clayton was like the norm, he served six years of active duty and remained on call for another six years. After returning home to England he married Alice Rutherford.
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| Greystoke Castle |
in the military just before receiving his African position, John Clayton I was described as the type of Englishman whom one likes best to associate with the noblest monuments of historic achievement upon a thousand victorious battlefields -- a strong, viri;e man -- mentally, morally, and physically. In stature he was above the average height; his eyes were gray his features were regular and strong; his carriage that of perfect, robust health influenced by his years of army training.
.png "John Clayton i") |
| John Clayton l |
Since John Clayton I had at least six years in service and was the perfect soldier, there is no doubt he dressed and groomed in the proper fashion of his time. As revealed above, that would include a well-trimmed and groomed military-style mustache. Although he had upper lip hair on his face the descriptions of his time considered it clean-shaven.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
James Michael Mood is a lifelong fan and collector of Edger Rice Burroughs. Over the past forty-five years, Moody has contributed over two hundred articles to various ERB-related fanzines. He also manages an unauthorized Tarzan blog titled Greystoke Chronologist: James Michael Moody. There, the researcher chronologies the Tarzan books starting in May 1872 (known as the pushback theory) instead of the more accepted date, May 1888.
James Michael Moody also authorizes the action-packed Sci-Fi fantasy adventure Unium series. Pioneers On Unium, published December 31, 2019, Exiled On Unium, published August 25, 2022, and, Swordsman On Unium published on July 15, 2024.
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