Hair Wreath

One of the more unusual pieces at Prairie Trails Museum is an intricately crafted wreath made of human hair. 

It was crafted by Susan Lee and donated by her daughter Harriet Draper.

The wreath must have been made from several tresses from different people as there are assorted colors of hair in the piece.

Following is an article published online about hair wreaths. After reading this and several other articles online, I determined that we are displaying the wreath at our museum upside down. Read on to see why.

Hair and Gone

By Karen Livsey and the Fenton History Center Staff

Hair has long been a keepsake by which a loved one or a friend is remembered. Even a

favored pet such as a dog, cat or horse can be remembered by a lock of hair or something

made from the hair. Lockets held not only a photograph or a small painting of a loved

one but often contained a lock of their hair.

Hair wreaths, hair pictures and hair jewelry were widely seen during the 19th century.

Instead of a painting or photograph of the family, a hair wreath could be made using hair

from various family members. This gave the assorted colors seen in a hair wreath.

Wreaths were constructed using crocheting or tatting techniques around wire. They were

also braided or woven around tubes or knitting needles. The tubes would then be boiled

and dried. The needle or tube would then be removed and the molded hair could be

fashioned into jewelry or used in a hair wreath. The hair around the wire could be bent to

make intricate flowers and leaves. Wreaths were often constructed in a horseshoe shape

leaving the top open-maybe to keep the family’s good luck-or if a memorial wreath, to

give the impression of ascending heavenward. If it was a memorial wreath, the hair of the

deceased was added to the center and would be moved to the side when the next person

passed away.

Not all hair wreaths were memorials. Some were keepsakes of family members who may

have moved away or a wreath could be made for a family member who was moving

away. They could also be made of hair from members of a church, a school or a similar

group.

A less elaborate hair keepsake was a woman’s bracelet, brooch, and earrings. The hair

was made into the form of a flower or a lock of hair was intricately braided and could

then be encased in the brooch. Men could have vest chains made with fine ribbon and

braided hair. 

Some soldiers during the Civil War had watch fobs made from their wife’s hair.

Mourning rings which were given to family members and close friends after a funeral

often contained hair of the deceased. Hair wreaths and some jewelry could be made at

home or the hair could be sent to a professional hair weaver to construct the wreath or

jewelry. Peterson’s Magazine and Godey’s Lady’s Book, two of the popular magazines

of the mid-1800s, included instructions for making flowers and other items from hair.

Throughout 1861 Godey’s illustrated the types of hair work available by mail-order.

Prices for earrings varied from $4.50 to $10 - very expensive for the time. Hair jewelry

was the most popular item ordered in 1859.

http://www.fentonhistorycenter.org/exhibits/hometown/hairwreaths.pdf