Museum yesterday - interesting hair history

[Brattina88]

I went to a museum yesterday with my summer camp kids. It's an old house that's the first house in my city to have indoor plumbing, electricity, stuff like that. The historical society saved it and restored it and it has all of the original furnishings of the house, with very minor changes. It was VERY interesting :)

but what I had to stay behind and snap a few pics of for you, was the little tidbit of hair history the tour guide told us.

There was this picture hanging above the bed in the "guest" bed room
http://i460.photobucket.com/albums/qq321/missdanabob/Mobile%20Uploads/10D3E6A5-B349-4A36-841F-427DB0D28246_zpsopzvepnu.jpg (http://s460.photobucket.com/user/missdanabob/media/Mobile%20Uploads/10D3E6A5-B349-4A36-841F-427DB0D28246_zpsopzvepnu.jpg.html)

She asked the kids what they thought it was made out of, everyone thought it was an old wreath. She said, it's hair. We all stood there in silence for a few seconds LOL

she said in that time, it was common to do hair art. In fact, she said before weddings sometimes they took the man and the woman's hair and made the woman a flower to pin on her dress because hair doesn't deteriorate and real flowers do.

http://i460.photobucket.com/albums/qq321/missdanabob/Mobile%20Uploads/727F1E10-EBCB-4D7C-93A0-1BF157BC5D55_zpsdfvlswon.jpg (http://s460.photobucket.com/user/missdanabob/media/Mobile%20Uploads/727F1E10-EBCB-4D7C-93A0-1BF157BC5D55_zpsdfvlswon.jpg.html)
so they used hair wrapped around itself and sometimes wire to shape it like this. Upon closer inspection I saw slightly faded blonde brown and red hair :o One of my girls whispered to me "that's kinda cool, but kinda gross" LOL. I had to agree!

I snapped a pic of this to share:
http://i460.photobucket.com/albums/qq321/missdanabob/Mobile%20Uploads/0B2B19A2-5CD8-4C3D-A64C-A992D02C3625_zps4ox2gnhy.jpg (http://s460.photobucket.com/user/missdanabob/media/Mobile%20Uploads/0B2B19A2-5CD8-4C3D-A64C-A992D02C3625_zps4ox2gnhy.jpg.html)


And she she said they would keep the shed hairs in here for the craftwork!
http://i460.photobucket.com/albums/qq321/missdanabob/Mobile%20Uploads/92274BAC-C834-4722-BB69-E8EB90BAB653_zps0javeusd.jpg (http://s460.photobucket.com/user/missdanabob/media/Mobile%20Uploads/92274BAC-C834-4722-BB69-E8EB90BAB653_zps0javeusd.jpg.html)

I would not admit to ANYONE but LHC that I totally want one of these to keep hairs for strand testing LOL

So, I snapped these pics wanting to share on here. I got some of the old curling irons too
http://i460.photobucket.com/albums/qq321/missdanabob/Mobile%20Uploads/0A0F095F-0919-4590-AA43-5D1DA258D891_zpsi0f5xciy.jpg (http://s460.photobucket.com/user/missdanabob/media/Mobile%20Uploads/0A0F095F-0919-4590-AA43-5D1DA258D891_zpsi0f5xciy.jpg.html)

http://i460.photobucket.com/albums/qq321/missdanabob/Mobile%20Uploads/B3998FEC-B5CE-45D9-80D0-3DDEA52FD340_zpssrzztllp.jpg (http://s460.photobucket.com/user/missdanabob/media/Mobile%20Uploads/B3998FEC-B5CE-45D9-80D0-3DDEA52FD340_zpssrzztllp.jpg.html)


The girls and I found it all pretty fascinating :)

[RapunzelKat]

Wow, what a fun trip! Not every day you get to see hair-related antiques. "Kinda cool but kinda gross" is a great description of the wreath. :lol: It's actually very artistic though, impressive that they made that whole thing just out of hair.
Thanks for sharing!

[embee]

That is very interesting and thanks for taking the pictures. :) If it's not too personal, what's the name of the museum?

I've always wanted a Hair Receiver too, but the only one I found around here was $50 so I do not have it... duh.

There is a Hair Art thread somewhere in the Crafts and Hobbies section on LHC.

[gossamer]

Here's the thread on Hair Art from the Crafts section, started because I read a really fascinating article about it! http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=124825

[Madora]

Thanks for sharing your outing, Brattina88.

My grandmother had that set of hair goodies..made of celluloid..everything but the hair receiver on the top left and the instruments in the tray. She also had a bbb but it wasn't part of that set.

[tetisheri72]

A lot of people had mourning jewelry that was made of hair from the deceased. Those wacky Victorians.

[Entangled]

I was just reading about this and was going to post a thread! I find this really fascinating. It's slightly morbid, a little bit sad, but also beautiful and intimate to see hair work. It's not something one would make lightly.
Here's another link:
http://thevictormourning.wordpress.com/2013/01/13/labor-of-love-the-art-of-hair-work-in-the-19th-century/

[meteor]

:thud: Oh wow! That is just AWESOME! Thank you so very much for sharing!
Those pictures are wonderful and very clear: as soon as I saw the wrath I knew it was made of hair. ;)

[chen bao jun]

Fascinating!
i don't think hair art is gross. I'd love to have something like that made by the hair of past people in my family.
On the other hand, I saved my wisdom teeth after I took them out, so I'm wierd. and my kids first baby tooth that came out. I'm sure that saving teeth is much more wierd than making flowers out of hair.

[meteor]

Fascinating!
i don't think hair art is gross. I'd love to have something like that made by the hair of past people in my family.
On the other hand, I saved my wisdom teeth after I took them out, so I'm wierd. and my kids first baby tooth that came out. I'm sure that saving teeth is much more wierd than making flowers out of hair.

For what it's worth: I find it charming! How is hair different from silk, boar brisles or pretty feathers? And how are teeth different from horn/bone or antlers? And if you'd want to keep a baby tooth of your baby, that's actually quite endearing! :D

[brickworld13]

Fascinating!
i don't think hair art is gross. I'd love to have something like that made by the hair of past people in my family.
On the other hand, I saved my wisdom teeth after I took them out, so I'm wierd. and my kids first baby tooth that came out. I'm sure that saving teeth is much more wierd than making flowers out of hair.

I have a friend who makes art out of teeth. Getting his hands on teeth people don't want anymore is a bit tricky, but his pieces are pretty cool. If it means something to you, then keep doing it. Other people's opinions are really given too much weight on things that they shouldn't even be concerned with.

[Shibe]

Awesome pictures!!

Where is this museum located? I may have to take a trip sometime!

[Jumper]

On the one hand, human hair decor is a little weird.

On the other hand, horse people frequently have jewelry or keychains made out of their horses tail hair.

[Ennapic]

Oh, I have a pair of curling irons very similar to those on picture 5. They belonged to my Great Grandmother (1891-1976). She said you had to be really careful to not burn yourself or your hair.

http://i406.photobucket.com/albums/pp146/Ennacrone/Hair/P7300687.jpg (http://s406.photobucket.com/user/Ennacrone/media/Hair/P7300687.jpg.html)

(Didn't meant to hijack)

[Shibe]

Wow, those are very cool!

What a lovely piece of family history :love:

[Brattina88]

I think this is all fascinating!! Please keep in mind that the gross comment came from an 8 year old ;) it's definitely a different time period and mind frame, I think we were all just kind of surprised lol. I also wanted to say that the same 8 year old asked me if we could try and make some hair art this morning!!! LOL :D

Thanks for the links! and the pic of your grandmas curling iron Ennapic! By all means, Feel free to "hijack" :D
My Mom got a curling iron in a box of miscellaneous antique stuff at an auction one time. I love pieces that have a story, though!

Here's a link to the museum. http://www.lchs.org/tours/the-hickories-museum The website and pictures don't do the house justice AT ALL, though :( it was my understanding that most of the 'staff' are volunteers and not so tech savvy. I swear if I a wasn't so busy myself I'd love to help them out with that ;)

[Shibe]

I think this is all fascinating!! Please keep in mind that the gross comment came from an 8 year old ;) it's definitely a different time period and mind frame, I think we were all just kind of surprised lol. I also wanted to say that the same 8 year old asked me if we could try and make some hair art this morning!!! LOL :D

Thanks for the links! and the pic of your grandmas curling iron Ennapic! By all means, Feel free to "hijack" :D
My Mom got a curling iron in a box of miscellaneous antique stuff at an auction one time. I love pieces that have a story, though!

Here's a link to the museum. http://www.lchs.org/tours/the-hickories-museum The website and pictures don't do the house justice AT ALL, though :( it was my understanding that most of the 'staff' are volunteers and not so tech savvy. I swear if I a wasn't so busy myself I'd love to help them out with that ;)

OH it's in Elyria!!

That's awesome, driveable from my parents place :)

[woodswanderer]

They have a similar hair wreath in a pioneer village called Spring Mill in Mitchell, Indiana.

[Carolyn]

I look at the hair wreaths as a crafty Victorian era art. You have to look at it in the context of the time period. I think they are beautiful.

I've collected hair receivers for years. I have quite a few. They are all packed away except maybe one right now or I would take some pics for you. I've saved the hair from my brush for ages. I plan to use it to stuff wool applique pin cushions. The oil on the hair is supposed to keep your pins from rusting.

[Charybdis]

The hair wreath is amazing.

Hair receivers are nifty little things -- I remember an elderly lady who lived down the road from us when I was a kid had one. I think she had inherited it, maybe from her grandmother. She knew what it was for, but never used it herself.

[meteor]

And how do hair receivers work? I don't understand why they are shaped that way. Can somebody explain please? :flower:

[Ennapic]

They are for saving hair from brushes and combs to use for various purposes - Victorian recycling;)

http://www.go-star.com/antiquing/hairreceivers.htm

[meteor]

Thank you! :flower: So hair receivers were shaped that way to turn the sheds into a ball faster? But then how did they untangle it to create that hair art (like the wrath pictured up-thread here)?

[Ingrid]

Wow, thank you for sharing! It's fascinating. Whoever made that wreath must have been so skilled! The curling irons look very severe though...

[Caraid♫]

very fascinating! I just love antique hair styling tools and hearing about hair grooming habits from pre-shampoo days and before

They are for saving hair from brushes and combs to use for various purposes - Victorian recycling;)

http://www.go-star.com/antiquing/hairreceivers.htm
great link- for a while there I had my own collection of shed hairs because I wanted to make a hair ratt to use in hairdos! I ended up throwing it out, because it was getting to be a big ugly ball of hair stuffed in my desk drawer- I was afraid a roommate would discover it or something and get freaked out! But one of these hair receivers would be a perfect way to collect your hairs while keeping it neatly out of sight

[Ennapic]

Thank you! :flower: So hair receivers were shaped that way to turn the sheds into a ball faster? But then how did they untangle it to create that hair art (like the wrath pictured up-thread here)?


Hair art was made with hair that had been cut. It would really be a chore to try to untangle the hair collected in a receiver.