On the Mustache that interests me the most…
Dali once wrote:
“Since I don’t smoke, I decided to grow a moustache – it’s better for the health. However, I always carried a jewel-studded cigarette case in which, instead of cigarettes, were carefully placed several moustaches, Adolphe Menjou style. I offered them politely to my friends:
‘Moustache? Moustache? Moustache?’
“Nobody dared touch them. This was my test regarding the sacred aspect of moustaches.”
One day, while walking in the corridor of his New York hotel, Igor Stravinsky and his wife encountered Dali – who appeared before them carrying a small silver bell. Said Stavinsky: “It was the little silver bell carried before the priest when he goes through the street to bring the viaticum to a dying person.” He stopped to greet Dali, who replied, “Bonjour, Igor. Bonjour, Madame,” and then stood waiting. His moustache was in the form of two tall, waxed spikes, reaching to the edges of his eyes. Stravinsky said nothing, nor did his wife. They smiled and prepared to continue on their way. At this, Dali rang the small silver bell he was carrying.
“What is your little silver bell doing there?” asked Stravinsky.
“I carry it and I ring it,” replied Dali, “so people will see my moustaches.”
