Locks of Hair -- Romantic or Creepy?

[olive bleu]

I come from a long line of folks who think nothing of taking snippets of hair ,from either a child's first hair cut, or from some loved one who is now dead.you cannot open an old Bible in any of my aunts houses without coming across a soft curl of hair tied with a piece of ribbon. I personally don't take any real comfort in stroking the locks of my dearly departed aunt Gertrude, but my mother still has a lock of hair from when i and my sisiter were babies. i have done the same when my boys were babies. My first son died when he was a year old. I was holding him when he died and the nurse that was present offered to cut me a lock of hair. I probably would not have thought of doing that myself at such a moment, but every now & then while looking for something else, I open this little white envelope and find this little downey, blond curl, tied with ribbon.It always unlocks a flood of sweet memories for me.BUt is something private that i keep locked away for myself, like a treasure.I am not sure that i would be comfortable with weaving my loved ones hair into jewellry to show to the world

 

[olive bleu]

and now for something completely different...

oh yeah, i also know a woman who kept the hair from her Bischon Frise for years and had it knit into a sweater.

How about a nice Vintage 100% doggie hair sweater?

 

[Gray Ghost]

Outlaw Josie Wells

Correct MissQueenie, the Civil War group is what I was thinking too.

I am hoping my wife will one day contribute her beautiful locks (while alive I will add!) to a pocket watch chain I would like to have produced.
Has anyone ever seen the watch chains made from hair? Absolutely beautiful.

Thanks for the links Vanessa.

The first watch chain made from hair that I have ever seen was in the movie The Outlaw Josie Wells. Sandra Lockes character gave Clint "Josie Wells" Eastwood a watch chain made from her hair. I thought it was a very romantic jesture. I don't mind a lock of hair from my sweetheart. I think it is romantic when you may have to spend time apart, but I am an incurable romantic anyway.

Gray Ghost

 

[Mojito]

A very ancient practice. When Tutankhamen's tomb was opened, a lock of hair was found in a box with his (probable) grandmother's name on it, Queen Tiye. It was later matched to an unwrapped mummy in a cache - although the identification has since been disputed.

And there's that scene in Wuthering Heights, where Nellie ensures that Cathy is buried with both locks of both Heathcliff's and Edgar's hair entwined in a locket - a sort of reversal of what we expect. In that case, the dead was taking momentos of the living with her.

Like many, I have ambiguous feelings about these. I wouldn't feel entirely comfortable wearing a piece of hair that belonged to a stranger, but at the same time I would have a bit of a hard time disposing of it, as it would have meant the world to someone in the past - someone who themselves was now almost certainly dead. What a complex, sometimes contradictory set of impulses and feelings we have towards our beloved dead!

 

[Tough Cookie]

My cats gift me with hair "momentos" all over the place (I'm not talking about hairballs, btw. just regular shedding, thank goodness). Does that count? lol

I have to say that I wouldn't mind having a lock of my hubby's hair, it would be comforting were I to be left behind on earth for any significant period of time. And he has the most lovely dark, thick, wavy hair...I'm completely jealous of it. These days it's shot through with shiny metallic silver--very distinguished and sexy.

Maybe I won't wait--just take it all today!

Sorry, but I wouldn't want anyone else's hair, jewelry or no. It's way too personal.

 

[Dixon Cannon]

Oh!....how romantic!!!

To this day, I still have a lock of hair given to me by a "crush" from the sixth grade. I don't know why I have hung on to it - I guess because it's the only lock of hair ever given to me! It brings back memories of a simpler time of innocence. Oh Debbie Fethke - where are you now???

My grandfather had written a poem entitled, "Only A Lock Of Her Hair", back in the early part of the last century. I still have his original typed out words. I'm away at the moment (in Seattle on business), but when I return I promise I will scan his version and post it for all the romantics out there.

It's the real deal and harkins back to that 'Golden Era' when such notions really meant something and were held close to the heart.

-Dixon Cannon

 

[Twitch]

Did anyone hear that a lock of Napoleon's hair was tested to see if they could ascertain what he died of and they found very high levels of arsenic? Saw it on a TV program a few years ago. So it seems as though he died an un-natural death.

 

[Trampilot]

Last year I exchanged hair with a girl in Portugal. We'd only ever spoke via MSN and rude texts. Eventually I called her up on Christmas Day 2005 and we have become the best of friends.

How bizarre.

 

[Marc Chevalier]

Time for poetry: http://andromeda.rutgers.edu/~jlynch/Texts/rapelock.html


.

 

[jamespowers]

Time for poetry: http://andromeda.rutgers.edu/~jlynch/Texts/rapelock.html


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:eusa_doh:

 

[Dixon Cannon]

Only A Lock Of Her Hair

An original poem by my grandfather, George A. Buckley c.1900, as promised.

-dixon cannon

 

[Sunny]

That gave me chills.

Thank you so much for sharing.