Hair Jewellery by
If you have longer hair you may be used to pulling it out when running your hands through your hair or finding your hair everywhere. Typically, the hair would be thrown out because it’s quite useless and there is no reason to keep it. If you were a female in the Victorian era this would be the perfect opportunity to put the fallen-out hair in a hair receiver to use it for many other things in the future.
The hair that was collected in the hair receiver could be used in many different ways. The hair could all be put together and could be clipped into your hair to make hair styles appear more voluminous. Women would also weave their hair into wreaths sometimes with flowers for family members whose passing they are mourning. The wreaths were made whether the person’s hair used to make the wreath was alive or not. If one was alive and making a wreath for one’s self, the wreath would not be a full circle and would be partially open at the top. This was to allow the people’s spirits to ascend to heaven when they did die. If a wreath was fully closed, this would mean that the person whose hair was used to make the wreath has passed and someone else had made the wreath in that person’s honour.
Hair jewellery was very common too. It could be found as pendants, bracelets and brooches. Today, having jewellery made of human hair may seem morbid, but having hair jewellery in the Victorian era was considered to be sentimental and fashionable. The use of hair jewellery was to show you have a connection to a person who has died. The hair jewellery was not really about death but it was more about sentiment and emotion; of showing people how you are related to others.
The use of hair jewellery and wreaths slowly died out towards 1925. There are many reasons why the trend died out after the Victorian era. One reason could be the rise of funeral homes, which moved death out of the home. Another reason could have been linked to changes in decorative and fashion styles. Hair wreaths were often displayed in very extravagant looking parlours with layers and layers of wallpaper. But solid colour and plaster walls became more popular and the wreaths did not quite fit into this style. Clothing that may have been nicely accented by the hair jewellery changed to clothing that did not look good with the hair jewellery.
If you are looking to make a donation towards the museum’s Endowment Fund so we can continue to bring you Virden’s local history, please feel welcome to call 204-748-1659 or email us at virden_pioneer_home@mymts.net. It is more important than ever to support Virden’s local businesses. The museum staff looks forward to seeing you all in person soon.
