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This is a 5-minute freewrite in response to the prompt from 1/8/2025
Brass is a is made by adding copper and zinc together in various amounts. Brass oxidizes over time just like most metals to form a blue-green patina.
Polishing metals helps to remove the accumulated oxidation and it's something I had to do as a kid. I polished silver, brass and copper using various chemicals that smelled like sulfur when the reaction took place. You can simply polish brass to remove the oxidation layers, and many statues and hand polished to accentuate features on the statue.
At my college, certain statues had their features polished to accentuate features including bald heads, noses and mustaches. I can distinctly remember passing brass statues around the quad with their mustaches, bellies, noses and heads polished comedically.
Polishing the mustache of a brass statue is a classic way to show endearment for the model used for a statue. Many pioneers and heroes of old sported amazing mustaches and it is in good humor to polish this feature. I am a huge fan of this, but it needs to be done in good taste and should not been added as a feature after the fact.