Anybody know why some men in the fifties had a curved scar along

[cyclonefence]

the side of their faces? I've been watching lots of Perry Masons, and I notice that several male actors have quite noticeable scars going from the base of their ears up onto their cheeks. I haven't seen this on any of the females, but maybe they were better made up.

I'm wondering if there was some kind of surgery commonly performed that would leave such a scar?

[underpants]

1. I'd guess it was makeup to make them look tougher

Of course everyone on Perry Mason was WWII era so they could have been hurt during that.

[Astrocyte]

2. Possibly German dueling scars

They might be German dueling scars.
See https://portraitofwar.com/2017/12/26/wwi-german-facial-dueling-scars-mensur-scars-and-wwi-portraits/|

[Walleye]

3. They didn't have seatbelts in cars back then?

[Captain Zero]

7. Hell no. If a car did it was a lapbelt only

And you tucked it down into the crack of the seat. Haha.

[Walleye]

8. I think I had belts my 62 Oldsmobile. The previous owner installed them

I just remember those killer metal dashboard and hard plastic steering wheel to crush your head with

[2naSalit]

12. Me too...

Made contact with one of those dashboards once. My mom, it really wasn't a "fault" situation, was driving and we had been to the city on our twice monthly grocery trip. It was raining but had turned to freezing rain on our way home, it was a bit of a drive, and as we started over a long hill we found that a sand truck had sanded the road, a little. But the truck was halfway down the hill in our lane, stopped for some reason and my mom tried to slow down and get around him, we were doing maybe 20mph, but we slid right into the back of the truck and I hit the dashboard. I'll never forget that one.

[tinrobot]

4. Facelift technology was pretty primitive back then?

They're actors concerned with their looks, so... maybe?

[bullimiami]

5. probably got in a razor fight with cornpop at the pool.

[Thomas Hurt]

6. TV gigs back then were very competitive?

[egduj]

9. Face tigtening?

I think that's where they make the incisions to pull the skin back.

[sl8]

10. Heidelberg alumni? nt

[pwb]

11. Straight razor digs?

.

[hunter]

13. In the bad old days before antibiotics ear infections could be deadly.

Mastoid surgery to remove the infected bone was common.

Mastoiditis is the result of an infection that extends to the air cells of the skull behind the ear. Specifically, it is an inflammation of the mucosal lining of the mastoid antrum and mastoid air cell system inside the mastoid process. The mastoid process is the portion of the temporal bone of the skull that is behind the ear. The mastoid process contains open, air-containing spaces. Mastoiditis is usually caused by untreated acute otitis media (middle ear infection) and used to be a leading cause of child mortality. With the development of antibiotics, however, mastoiditis has become quite rare in developed countries where surgical treatment is now much less frequent and more conservative, unlike former times.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mastoiditis

[cyclonefence]

15. I think this is on the right path

but mastoiditis scars wouldn't extend down around the cheek. I wish I could find a picture of somebody with this scar, but these actors were unknowns.

[Ms. Toad]

18. Correct.

My mother had this surgery. She has no visible scar. I believe her surgery was behind her ear.

[Hekate]

14. Since these were actors in a particular kind of show, I'd say it was to look tough...

Facial scars from fencing were a German-Austrian thing, and ceased with Hitler.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dueling_scar
Dueling scars (German: Schmisse) have been seen as a "badge of honour" since as early as 1825. Known variously as "Mensur scars", "the bragging scar", "smite", "Schmitte" or "Renommierschmiss", dueling scars were popular amongst upper-class Austrians and Germans involved in academic fencing at the start of the 20th century. Being a practice amongst University students, it was seen as a mark of their class and honour, due to the status of dueling societies at German and Austrian universities at the time. The practice of dueling and the associated scars was also present to some extent in the German military.

More at link.

[cyclonefence]

16. Naw

I actually had a boyfriend in college who was a Latvian immigrant (he was a grad student at Rutgers) who really did have a dueling scar! He also had a narrow ribbon he wore diagonally across his chest over his necktie on formal occasions. It was supposed to identify him as a member of a certain dueling organization.

But his scar was straight and short; the ones I'm talking about are quite long and curved and are located in the same part of the face--and on the right side--in all these guys.

[Hekate]

17. That's why I made the distinction from actors. But I suppose the curious could google...

… for specific actors’ facial scars and see of anything comes up.

[JanMichael]

19. WWI & WWII?