Hair Legacy

[czech it out]

Alright, so I wasn't sure exactly where to post this. I hope you guys will excuse me if it seems off topic.

I was going through my grandparents' attic a few weeks ago (They recently passed away and our family is in the process of cleaning their house), when I found a plastic bag labeled "Granny's Hair." Inside were three gorgeous (albeit very, very dusty) braids. None of my aunts or uncles knew who the granny in question was, but we decided that it was probably their grandmother (who died when they were very young) or maybe even her mother. The women in my family tend to keep very short hair, so I was surprised and kind of delighted to find that there was someone with beautiful, long hair in my family line.

Here are a few pictures of the braids after I cleaned them up (It just didn't seem right to leave them dusty):

http://i1247.photobucket.com/albums/gg639/czech_it_out/100_3144-1.jpg

http://i1247.photobucket.com/albums/gg639/czech_it_out/100_3148-1.jpg

So my question for you guys -- Is there a legacy of long hair in your family? And has anyone ever heard of saving someone's hair like this?

[pink.sara]

Wow that's kind of creepy but cool all in one!

My parents still have my first major ponytail cut. I lost about 3 foot of hair at 9 when my dad couldn't cope with it anymore and it was to long for me to brush on my own.

I'd bet lots of people had the same idea :)

[PrincessBob]

My grandma kept very long hair into her 40's which she cut when she turned 50 and kept her old ponytail in her vanity. I love grandma's hair.

[Lostsoule77]

I don't think we do. Both my grandmother's had short hair and so does my aunt. My mother had bsl hair and kept my hair long because her mother forced her to have short hair. ;)

[mckenzie]

This just reminded me of something I had completely forgotten. After my great-grandmother died, we did find her braid from when she used to have long hair as a young woman. The part that had been cut, seemed to be professionally fastened to a piece of material, almost like a hairpiece would be, so she must have brought it somewhere to have this done after having it cut. When I was around 10 I remember fastening it with a ponytailholder onto my own pony, and since it was a lot thicker and longer than my baby-fine hair, I felt soooo glamourous! I never left the house with it, but I remember playing with it a lot and pretending it was my own...
I guess my dream of having long, nice hair goes back that far.....

[Madora]

Those braids are beautiful! Even after all these years they look healthy and thick.

Yes, my maternal grandmother evidently saved her foot long red gold braid at some time in her early life. I never knew anything about it until after she died. She always wore her hair in a small bun all her life.

[Oksana]

My grandmother had her cut from hip to a short bob when she turned 60. It is a beautiful golden blonde as she only started getting greys in her 80's. She had it made into a hair piece :)

[door72067]

they are lovely and interesting

[Tisiloves]

I've heard of ladies who got their hair cut off because they had fevers keeping them. I'm pretty sure no one in my family has done a big chop, apparently my great grandmother had Views on women with short hair.

[arcane]

My family had short ultilitarian hair, of course both my families were poor, and one grandmother never lived in a house with a furance for her entire life (they heated water with an old oil stove). Having the time to have long hair was a luxury, though all the older people in my family loved my long hair when I was growing up. My grandma who is still alive never had long hair in her life, she doesn't think she could have pulled it off, but I think she would look really good with long hair.

However it wasn't that uncommon to save a loved ones hair, wether it was because they did a big chop or even cutting it off after someone died to be used a a memento or for hair jewelery. In fact that pratice was very common in the Victorian and Edwardian eras, so I can see how it could have continued for a generation or two past that in some famlies.

[Nae]

Since I do genealogy as a hobby I just want to say I would LOVE to find something like this. I look at the black and white photos of my ancestors and so much is lost. What eye color did they have? What was their shade of hair? How thick was it? How did their voice sound?

That is a real treasure you have there. How lucky are you to have that heirloom?

[Vanille_]

Does anyone know if this was a fad of a certain generation? Was this something usually done after death or during life? Why would a woman do this?

[petali]

It must be nice cutting of hair and saving it, it probably takes a long time to decompose. All of my family has never had hair beyond shoulder. I wish I had some family history :(

[Amapola]

Not my own family, but a customer once sent me the pony tail of loved one. She wanted me to make a tassel of the hair and put it at the end of one of my braided horsehair stampede strings (the thing that keeps your hat on your head in a stampede) so I did that. I told her she would need to pay in advance, because although it was a beloved keepsake for her, others might find it a bit creepy!

[mckenzie]

Since I do genealogy as a hobby I just want to say I would LOVE to find something like this. I look at the black and white photos of my ancestors and so much is lost. What eye color did they have? What was their shade of hair? How thick was it? How did their voice sound?

That is a real treasure you have there. How lucky are you to have that heirloom?

In my case, i haven't seen the thing in about 20 years. I think I'll have to ask my parents if they know if it's still around somewhere. Hopefully they still have it. I do remember when I used to "play dress up" with my great grandmothers braid that at least my father thought it was kind of creepy. I think it's wonderful to have something like this from an ancestor, and I hope I can relocate it!

[humble_knight]

Does anyone know if this was a fad of a certain generation? Was this something usually done after death or during life? Why would a woman do this?

One reason may be to sell those plaits. I just asked some native Czechs if they had any such unusual heirlooms and they said 'no.'

[neko_kawaii]

I am not aware of any heirloom braids. All the pictures show the older generations of ladies with their hair pulled back tight into presumably a bun. Very few bangs. The only examples of loose hair are on young children, my favorite being my great uncle with his formal curls and dress.

Earlier pictures of my grandmother show her with shoulder length hair but when I was a child she had waist length hair. I once asked my mother why it was her mother didn't go along with the trend for women of that generation to wear short hair. My mother explained that her sister (my aunt)'s hair doesn't grow past shoulder length, so my grandmother grew her hair long so that my aunt had long hair to play with after my mother moved away from home (my aunt is more than 10 years younger).

It can't be considered an heirloom yet, but my mother has one of my long braids stashed away somewhere!

[mckenzie]

One reason may be to sell those plaits. I just asked some native Czechs if they had any such unusual heirlooms and they said 'no.'

In my great grandmothers case that was definitely not a reason. I think it was just to have as a keepsake for sentimental value. :)

[Vanille_]

Isn't that color very vibrant for a "granny?" Could it be that "granny" got it from someone else, younger? Maybe a child or young woman?

[Tisiloves]

Isn't that color very vibrant for a "granny?" Could it be that "granny" got it from someone else, younger? Maybe a child or young woman?

Cutting hair short during a fever was part of standard medical practice in the Victorian era, alternatively I should imagine quite a few of the women who bobbed their hair in the 20s kept it. If nothing else crown braids were still pretty popular and it looks like they are ready to be pinned on as hair pieces.

[mckenzie]

Isn't that color very vibrant for a "granny?" Could it be that "granny" got it from someone else, younger? Maybe a child or young woman?

Maybe the granny in question simply had her hair cut at a younger age.

[Vanille_]

Cutting hair short during a fever was part of standard medical practice in the Victorian era, alternatively I should imagine quite a few of the women who bobbed their hair in the 20s kept it. If nothing else crown braids were still pretty popular and it looks like they are ready to be pinned on as hair pieces.

This whole thing is really fascinating to me.

[ladylowtide]

I may have created my own hair legacy. Somewhere in my parent's house there is a foot and some inches long braid of mine. From when I cut hair from hip to chin when I was in elementary school.

[LaFlor]

That is too cool! Looks like your granny could have been my hair twin :D

[Shiranshoku]

I think hair jewellery is fascinating. My family also stores braids as a keepsake, one long plait from every girls' first hair cut. We have four of them, all the exact same colour and texture. Pretty neat :) and I can definitely imagine my future daughter playing with them.

[czech it out]

That is too cool! Looks like your granny could have been my hair twin :D


Lucky you! I love the honey color. Wish I could have gotten her genes.

[Mommyof4]

Beautiful braids! My great-grandmother's hair was cut after her funeral and saved by her daughters... It's tradition in my family to save a lock of hair of the deceased women..

[czech it out]

Beautiful braids! My great-grandmother's hair was cut after her funeral and saved by her daughters... It's tradition in my family to save a lock of hair of the deceased women..

That's interesting! Where is your family from, if you don't mind me asking? I'm not sure if the hair we found was cut after "granny" passed or sometime during her life. I think it would make sense either way since my great grandmother died early in life, and I can't imagine her mother living very long either.

[Rufflebutt]

Oh my god, it's so thick and healthy.. Even if it is a bit weird to save someone's hair.

Look how thick that braid is even at the very end, I'm very impressed.

[Natalia]

no legacy that i know of but my aunt still has her ponytail she cut off in her 20's, shaddow boxed with a velvet backdrop.

[meishkamooshka]

Wow! Those are some beautiful braids! I think my family (with the exception of the younger generation) has been consistently short-haired.

My mother likes to keep my hair when I cut it. ^.^

[MestizoGypsy]

My mom had saved myself and my sister's braids from when we got our hair cut from tailbone length to shoulderish length, when we were 7. I don't know if she still has them, but I kind of hope she does. As far as I know, nobody in my family has saved cut off hair.

[BlackbirdFly]

My mom was kinda a hippie in the 70's. She used to be able to sit on her hair, which is what I aim for. Eventually she had to have it cut because it was so long and think she'd get headaches! When my grandma died last month we found my mom's braid amid my grandma's other treasures. Beautiful!

[jacqueline101]

I had a similar experience my grandparents died I found in an old make up case long black loose hair. It was over a foot long but not by much. My grandma talked about her grandma who raised her having long coal black floor length hair.

[AnqeIicDemise]

Yeah there is. A few days ago I posted about my tragic-love-hate relationship with hair. I explained how I conned my father and the hair dresser to let me chop off my beyond classic hair and go chin short.

What I failed to mention was that the lady AND my father decided to keep my hair in tact. So she did a simple English braid before starting, then cut it off. She tied the ends, wrapped it in paper and then put it in a bag for me to take home.

After my brother flew off the handles and my mother cried, the bag was put away in storage for a few months. I came home about six months later to this:

My brother in the back yard, barbecuing some chicken, wearing a pair of short-shorts (hey, it was the early 90s), tube socks pulled up to his knees, no shirt and a cowboy hat. Against his pale, pale back I could see a very familiar braid hanging around for all to see.

Yes, ladies and gents. My brother duct taped my braid onto his cowboy hat. -.-

And he still has it too. It hangs on his living room wall for all to see. O.o;

[Sarahlabyrinth]

Hope this doesn't sound too morbid but when my Dad died in 2010 we cut off a small lock of his hair - I have it in an envelope, it's so beautiful and white, he died just before his 94th birthday and always had beautiful thick hair - hope I take after him...

[Dragon Faery]

None on my side that I know of. But my DH's side is a different story.
He's native American (Crow tribe), and the old tradition for men was to wear their hair long, in three braids. One from the crown hair, and the back divided in two. When DH was in college, he grew his hair oui to Hip-ish and wore it that way.
But when his grandmother died, he cut it off. Tradition is that when someone close to you dies, you cut your hair. He keeps it short now (due to a physically demanding job), but his mom still has the braid from when he cut it.

[Mesmerise]

I had a bag of hair that I cut off when I was younger, but ended up chucking it out! I am planning on keeping my hair when I eventually cut it all off (when I decide to forego the henna and become a renegray!!). Although... I may get it made into a wig or something :D.

[MestizoGypsy]

I had a bag of hair that I cut off when I was younger, but ended up chucking it out! I am planning on keeping my hair when I eventually cut it all off (when I decide to forego the henna and become a renegray!!). Although... I may get it made into a wig or something :D.
I don't even know if this is done, but (unfortunately) cancer has been very prevalent in my family, and I always thought to myself that if it ever happened to me, I'd want my own hair cut off and made into a wig. I suppose it must be done, since real human hair wigs aren't at all uncommon.

[carolinaberry]

Alright, so I wasn't sure exactly where to post this. I hope you guys will excuse me if it seems off topic.

I was going through my grandparents' attic a few weeks ago (They recently passed away and our family is in the process of cleaning their house), when I found a plastic bag labeled "Granny's Hair." Inside were three gorgeous (albeit very, very dusty) braids. None of my aunts or uncles knew who the granny in question was, but we decided that it was probably their grandmother (who died when they were very young) or maybe even her mother. The women in my family tend to keep very short hair, so I was surprised and kind of delighted to find that there was someone with beautiful, long hair in my family line.

Here are a few pictures of the braids after I cleaned them up (It just didn't seem right to leave them dusty):

http://i1247.photobucket.com/albums/gg639/czech_it_out/100_3144-1.jpg

http://i1247.photobucket.com/albums/gg639/czech_it_out/100_3148-1.jpg

So my question for you guys -- Is there a legacy of long hair in your family? And has anyone ever heard of saving someone's hair like this?

First off, that is beautiful hair. Secondly, my Maw-Maw (mom's mom), who is still living, gave me a long braid of hers when she got it cut one time before she totally succumbed to Alzheimer's Disease. She knew I'd always loved her hair, and she wanted to give it to me while she still remembered. It is one of my most cherished keepsakes.

[Loreley]

Nobody had really long hair in my family. One of my great-grandmothers had her hair somewhere between waist and hip but that's all. My grandma showed me a braid not long ago, it was her mother's (one of my other great-grandmothers) and was cut off when she fell ill before she died in the 80's. It isn't too long or thick.
My mom saved my little sister's hair. It was thigh length when we cut it back to shoulder length. She was 7 then, so the ponytail doesn't appear to be very long because she was short. :) It's golden blond and healthy.

[Nae]

Hope this doesn't sound too morbid but when my Dad died in 2010 we cut off a small lock of his hair - I have it in an envelope, it's so beautiful and white, he died just before his 94th birthday and always had beautiful thick hair - hope I take after him...

I don't think it is morbid. On the contrary, I think that is quite lovely and it makes me tear up a little bit.

[czech it out]

Yeah there is. A few days ago I posted about my tragic-love-hate relationship with hair. I explained how I conned my father and the hair dresser to let me chop off my beyond classic hair and go chin short.

What I failed to mention was that the lady AND my father decided to keep my hair in tact. So she did a simple English braid before starting, then cut it off. She tied the ends, wrapped it in paper and then put it in a bag for me to take home.

After my brother flew off the handles and my mother cried, the bag was put away in storage for a few months. I came home about six months later to this:

My brother in the back yard, barbecuing some chicken, wearing a pair of short-shorts (hey, it was the early 90s), tube socks pulled up to his knees, no shirt and a cowboy hat. Against his pale, pale back I could see a very familiar braid hanging around for all to see.

Yes, ladies and gents. My brother duct taped my braid onto his cowboy hat. -.-

And he still has it too. It hangs on his living room wall for all to see. O.o;

....Bahaha! I love this. Your family would make a great sitcom.

[cobden 28]

The ladies in my mother's family have always had short hair, ever since the time of the first World War. There are photo's of ny Nan ( 1890 - 1962) taken before WW1 when she had her hair in a bun but in her wedding photo's in 1919 her hair was in a shoulder-length bob with a full fringe.

To the best of my knowledge I'm the only one in Mum's family that currently has hair past the shoulders.

[czech it out]

First off, that is beautiful hair. Secondly, my Maw-Maw (mom's mom), who is still living, gave me a long braid of hers when she got it cut one time before she totally succumbed to Alzheimer's Disease. She knew I'd always loved her hair, and she wanted to give it to me while she still remembered. It is one of my most cherished keepsakes.

What a beautiful thing to have. In my experience, it's things like this that can really help you through the hard times. Shortly before my grandmother passed away, I was checking on her at night (I was living there to care for her), and she told me, "I'll always love you." I thought it was strange, because she had never said it like that before. When I told my boyfriend, he said I should keep an extra close watch over her. He could tell that she was getting ready to go, and not even a week later, she passed away. Saying that was like the metaphorical keepsake braid she gave to me, and it's something that I'll always have/remember.

[hafattack]

short hair on all the women in this family. Starting my own legacy. Try to get me to cut my future babies hair!

[czech it out]

short hair on all the women in this family. Starting my own legacy. Try to get me to cut my future babies hair!

That's the spirit!

[Demi-Plum]

I'm assuming I got my love of long hair from my mother since she always had her's "long". Of course when you're 5 waste length is so long. She just recently got it cut about 6 inches because she wants "age appropriate" hair since she is over 50. I say there is no such thing as age appropriate hair and after my first real hair cut at 5 I never let her touch it again save for bangs off and on. After high school my hair started to surpass my mother's and now I'm at tailbone. I plan for classic and then maybe knee, who knows how far it'll go?

[kme81]

This is a bit different than what you are talking about in the thread, but my mom saved locks of my hair from my first 5 or so haircuts...it is super interesting to look at them and see how much my color changed as I grew. All of the hair pieces are dated.

On another note, my mom also saved all of my baby teeth, it is actually pretty fascinating to look at them.