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| 1914 hair extremes & normal |
The Two Nerdy History Girls have blogged extensively about hair styles, hair washing pros and cons, and other top-of-the-head matters. (You'll find a couple of examples here and here; for more, please search "hair"). To add to your collection of historical attitudes about hair care, I present some excerpts from Mary Brooks Picken’s book, The Secrets of Distinctive Dress (1918).
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| Hair Care |
Image: Just to be conspicuous (edited), Puck Magazine, February 1914, courtesy Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA.
Clicking on the image will enlarge it. Clicking on the caption will allow you to read at the source, where you can learn more and enlarge images as needed.
One of us -- 
4 comments:
Thank you for sharing this vintage article. I laughed when I realized that is echoed a recent conversation I had with my dermatologist who told me that I should take a lesson from my grandmother's day and to shampoo no more than twice a week (and to just lather once unless I'd gotten my hair actually soiled by something), but to thoroughly brush my hair out each day to distribute the natural oils and shake out any flakes. I've given this a try and, frankly, my hair looks much nicer and styles easier than when I shampooed daily and stripped it of all the natural oils. So I guess our grandmothers and great grandmothers had the right idea--at least for folks like me. :-)
I'm almost tempted to try the Ivory Soap recipe. Almost, but not quite :-) I think Ivory Soap is no longer soap anyway.
As I began to find the first few grays I noticed that the texture of my hair was changing. Around the same time I stopped working and had less need for a "glam routine" in the morning. I started washing my hair once every five or six days and it has made a HUGE difference in the health of my hair! It's much softer and less frizzy. It used to get oily after a day and a half but stretching the time between watching changed the oil balance and it's hardly ever oily looking, even after five or six days! I will use a dry shampoo on the fourth day, usually just to freshen the scent. I think they knew a lot more back then about hair care!
Heh - a shampoo every two weeks, whether you need it or not.
Yecch! With such gross and oily under-shampooed hair everywhere, it's no wonder the style changed from long locks to bobs.
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