History buffs are honoring a hero of the War of 1812 with a sideburns contest.
The Erie-Times News reports Sunday that the winner of the Perry Burns contest will be named later this week. Judges will decide who sports the sideburns most like those of U.S. Navy Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry, who defeated a British force in the Battle of Lake Erie, in Sept. 1813.
Historical portraits suggest that Perry wore long mutton-chop sideburns that extended down and then toward his lips.
Erie residents say the town had a similar contest in 1963, on the 150th anniversary of the battle, except it was a beard-growing contest.
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