Hair wreaths gained the greatest popularity in the Victorian era (1837-1901). Queen Victoria (1819-1901) popularized decorative hair pieces by wearing a necklace made with hairs from her deceased husband Prince Albert. Hair wreaths are often thought to be a way that people memorialized deceased people, but they also served as a type of family tree decoration with hair from different relatives, living and dead, or given as a token of friendship. They may have been just a decoration with no deeper meaning. In certain instances, horsetail hair was used as a filler. Hair in different colors could be ordered by catalog or in stores. Patterns and instructions on how to make the wreaths were printed in numerous magazines. In addition to wreaths, hair decorated brooches, necklaces, lockets and pins. A popular activity was to place braided hair in poetry books.
The design of the wreath varied. A horseshoe shape could signify that the deceased ascended to heaven or it was simply a good luck charm. Another popular design was a circular wreath. A newly deceased person’s hair might be placed in the center of a circular wreath. Hair was formed into flowers, swirls and knotted patterns with wire. Seeds, buttons and beads were woven in. The wreaths were placed in a deep frame or a shadowbox and hung on a wall. Hair wreaths can be achingly beautiful if a little ghoulish.
Suffield’s King House Museum has a hair wreath in the upstairs Victorian Parlor. You can see it on Wednesdays and Saturdays when the King House Museum & Barn is open from 1 to 4 p.m. until October 11. At the same time you can view the Artists of Suffield Summer Exhibit.
https://www.lancastermoah.org/single-post/remembering-the-dead-hair-art
https://saukcountyhistory.org/the-hair-wreath
https://www.eriehistory.org/blog/hair-wreaths
