Hair Extensions ~ '50s Style

The 1950s did colored hair extensions too, you know.....What fun!
"It all goes to show, a woman's hair is her crowning glory"

Hair Extensions Back On 50s
Posted by Fashion World Magazine on Tuesday, October 6, 2015

Pétrole Hahn Hair Tonic

Pétrole Hahn hair tonic was sold beginning in 1885.

Here are some of their art deco and other vintage print ads.

Pétrole Hahn advertisement, L’Illustration, February 9, 1918, page 2. Public domain image.

Pétrole Hahn advertisement, from Les Feuillets d'Art, 1920.

Pétrole Hahn advertisement, pochoir from Les Feuillets d'Art, 1920.

Pétrole Hahn advertisement, “arrête la chute des cheveux,” illustration by Charles Martin, unknown date.
 

Pétrole Hahn advertisement, L’Illustration, December 6, 1930.

Pétrole Hahn advertisement, designed by Andre Wilquin, circa 1930.

Ellen Auerbach, Grete Stern, Studio Ringl & Pit, Pétrole Hahn, 1931.
Collection SFMOMA. © Ringl & Pit, courtesy Robert Mann Gallery. (1)

 Dora Maar and Pierre Kefer, "Étude publicitaire pour Pétrole Hahn." Original silver gelatin glass negative plate.
Centre Pompidou, Musée National d’Art Moderne, 1934. (2)

 Dora Maar, ferrotyped, 1935. (3)

1. The Jewish Women's Archive interviewed the photographers Ellen Auerbach and Grete Stern about their image which was used as an ad for Pétrole Hahn hair lotion. It combined a nightgown, mannequin head, and a real hand, but the photographers later forgot whose hand was in the photo and which one took the photograph.

2. Dora Maar's surrealist advertising work in the early 1930s, included this image of a boat sailing through an ocean of hair.
3. www.mutualart.com

Marks of the Genuine Man

Boru O'Brien O'Connell - Marks of the Genuine Man (Emerson) - c-print - 2008

A Striking Beard: circa 1540-46

"This plaque of Limoges painted enamel on copper bears a portrait of Jacques de Genouillac, known as Galiot, Seigneur d'Assier (1465-1546) as an old man. The plaque was painted by Leonard Limosin (ca.1505-1575/7) whose work was, and still is highly valued for its originality, diverse subject matter, artistic merit and technical skill." ~ Via the Victoria & Albert Museum

May The Force of Hair Be With You

When Facial Hair Gets Political

“Any boy can become president — unless he’s got a mustache.” ~ Thomas A. Dewey

Yesterday The New York Times posted an article about how the new Speaker of the House Paul Ryan growing a beard has caused a stir.

Waiting on confirmation from the House Historian, but apparently, I’m the first Speaker to sport a beard in about 💯 years.

A photo posted by Speaker Paul Ryan (@speakerryan) on Nov 30, 2015 at 1:08pm PST

The power of hair as a vehicle to assert oneself in the world and to convoy unspoken values of any given age is undeniable. But who holds the answers to unlock these hidden hirsute rules? According to Tammy Haddad, a Washington media consultant and former political director of MSNBC, even though Mr. Ryan’s job “is the center of the entire political system, the beard shows that he’s not of Washington, he’s not part of the system.”

Did the beard always hold such outsider status? Perhaps not, but sporting facial hair was often seen as a political act. Beards among clergy were once serious, symbolic matters that at various times Church leaders either required or banned! And let us not forget that even clergy were not immune to the whims of fashion in their day.

Beards were fraught with shifting meaning in lay culture as well, as this 2013 article from The Atlantic points out. Considering a beard? It might serve you well to know your history.

"A Barber's Shop at Richmond, Virginia," from The Illustrated London News, March 9, 1861

 An 1853 Punch magazine sketch satirizes the "beard movement," an old lady is approached by helpful railway guards and
"concludes she is attacked by Brigands."

Build Your Own Wig

The Victorian & Albert Museum has produced a fun, interactive site that allows you to build an 18th-century wig, complete with bows, flowers, and a ship. Make your own today!