May Your Days Be Merry and Bright

It’s that time of year once again, when the darkest days become filled with the light of holiday celebrations. Regina and I will take the next week or so off to celebrate the season with our families and friends, and we hope that you will be doing the same. Look for us again in the new year of 2018 (wow—can you believe it?) for more books, more history geekery, and more fun. In the meanwhile, we wish you the very best!

To end on a festive historical note...got any holiday party plans? Why not rock your next party with a hairstyle Lizzie Bennett herself would have envied?  You'll need long hair...but the technique isn't too difficult, and the results are gorgeous! With a gold ribbon or a sprig of holly (carefully) tucked into the back, you'll be the belle of the evening.

There are actually a lot of Regency hairstyle videos out there that lots of fun to watch. Now, if only my hair were longer than my shoulders...

And from me personally, here's my favorite holiday video of all time--a reminder that even in the middle of the most humdrum of times and places, wonder and beauty can still take us by surprise. Enjoy!

As we come to the end of our tenth year of blogging, Regina and I thank you most sincerely for being NineteenTeen readers. ☺ See you next year!

Bear Grease, Stirachia’s Italian Oil, and Mochrikufsky and Prince’s Russian Oil

We’re taking a bit of a detour from our discussion of cleanliness to talk about hair—who knew it would turn into such an interesting topic?

So we already know that washing your hair meant using regular soap, which tends to strip away too much oil and leave hair dry and straw-like. And since creme rinse/conditioner hadn't made it on the scene either, our young ladies turned to a number of products to improve their hair. Like, say, bear grease:

H. LITTLE, Perfumer, No.1 Portugal Street, Lincoln's Inn Fields, acquaints the public, that he has killed a remarkable fine RUSSIAN BEAR the fat of which is matured by time to a proper state. He begs leave to solicit their attention to this Animal, which, for its fatness and size, is a real curiousity. He is now selling the fat, cut from the Animal, in boxes at 2s. 6p. and 5s. each, or rendered down in pots, from One Shilling to One Guinea each.

Yes, I know--pretty horrible. But bear grease had long been used as a hair improver, and its use lasted late into the century--in an 1879 publication for young ladies, either salad oil (plain vegetable oil) or bear grease are recommended. The procedure seems to have been brushing a small amount through the hair (or rubbing it on with the hands) and using a flannel to remove excess. Sort of a precursor to our leave-in conditioners, in a way.

If bears were a little too much for you, you could always turn to any of the elegantly named oils or pomades on the market, supposed to encourage hair growth as well as health. Note that no ingredients are listed: this is long before law required such a thing, and each product's components were jealously guarded secrets--many of the ads include warnings against imitators:

The unexampled success of Stiracia's Italian Oil has met with for upwards of twenty five years, in making the Hair grow, both thick and long, and preventing its fall off,(which it will do in twenty-four hours after illness,) continues to be the most Fashionable Pomade with Ladies of high rank, since powder is out of use; by keeping the head and hair perfectly clean; and making the hardest hair soft as silk, at the same time gives it a most beautiful natural appearance, prevents its turning grey, and even if on the change, will return the hair to its natural colour. The Dowager Lady Smith, of Sything House, near Dorchester, has done the proprietor the high honour of giving him the liberty to say [celebrity endorsement!], that Lady Smith has found great benefit from the use of Oils, both in lengthening and thickening the hair, and in keeping the head and hair perfectly clean, as to render the use of a small-tooth comb unnecessary.

Gulp--are they implying it repels lice?!

USED BY THE ROYAL FAMILY AND LADIES OF THE FIRST CIRCLE. Russia Oil, for promoting the Growth of Hair, and is so great a nourisher as to prevent its turning grey, becoming shaded, or falling off; restores Hair on bald places, if the least roots remain; several Gentlemen that were bald have declared, after using the Russia Oil for three Months, the bald places became covered with Hair. It is superior to any Article for moistening the Hair when dressing, as it prevents the ill effects occasioned by the heat of dressing-irons.

N.B. The Russia Oil will be found infinitely serviceable in restoring the loss of hair on horses, which often proves a great disfigurement to those valuable animals.

I like a good multi-use product! I wonder if Russia Oil contained any bear by-products?

And if these hair products aren't available, there's always home-made hair-care treatments, like this one from 1811 in The Mirror of Graces:

[This is a cleanser and brightener of the head and hair, and should be applied in the morning.]
Beat up the whites of six eggs into a froth, and with that anoint the head close to the roots of the hair. Leave it to dry on; then wash the head and hair thoroughly with a mixture of rum and rose-water in equal quantities.

I remember reading somewhere about a beauty salon that used mayonnaise as a hair treatment--not surprising, as the main ingredients of mayonnaise are oil and eggs. So maybe some of these 19th century hair treatments aren't so far-fetched after all.

Do you know any old-fashioned hair care treatments (preferably not bear-based)?

Her Crowning Glory

Ha! I’ll bet you thought this was going to be another post about Queen Victoria, didn’t you?

But today we’re going to talk about something completely different: hair.

The beginning of the 19th century coincides with a revolution in fashion that touched not only clothes, but personal style as well. Before the French Revolution in the 1790’s, hair was…well, weird. For formal occasions, women’s hair was made into enormous sculptures three and four feet high, supported by wire frameworks and additional hair (ew!) and decorated with everything from fruit and flowers and taxidermied birds to model ships engaged in naval battles. Oh yes…and don’t forget the powder. Everyone, men and women, wore grayish white powder that obscured their natural color. And even for everyday, hair was still dressed high and powdered.

But the Revolution helped usher in a reaction against this silliness. At first short, curly, tousled hair, called “mode a la Titus” (see right), became the fashion for both men and women—it was about as far from the old style as one could get.

This look remained popular for a long time, but within a few years was gradually modified by the rage for everything classical. Simple “psyche knots” (at left)—hair coiled or braided then pinned into a bun on the back of the head hearkened back to ancient Greek and Roman statuary.

These styles remained popular through the 1810s and 1820s. By the 1830’s more elaborate hair, once more to the point of silliness, like that of this demure young lady at right, became fashionable.

Walk into any supermarket or pharmacy today and you see aisles full of hair products. But supermarkets—and the shampoos and rinses and gels and foams there are a modern invention. What would a typical 19th century girl have used to keep her hair beautiful?

From Decorum, an 1877 publication:

“Vinegar and water form a good wash for the roots of the hair. Ammonia diluted with water is still better.

“Nothing is simpler or better in the way of oil than pure, unscented salad oil, and in the way of a pomatum bear’s grease is as pleasant as anything. Apply either with the hands or keep a soft brush for the purpose, but take care not to use the oil too freely. An over-oiled head of hair is vulgar and offensive….Those whose hair is glossy and shining need nothing to render it so; but when the hair is harsh, poor and dry, artificial lubrication is needed….

“For removing scurf [dandruff] glycerine diluted with a little rose-water will be found of service. Any preparation of rosemary forms an agreeable and highly cleansing wash.

“The yolk of an egg beaten up in warm water is an excellent application to the scalp.

“Many heads of hair require nothing more in the way of wash than soap and water.”

Hmm. Why does this sound more like a cookbook than beauty advice?