Michael Jackson, Elvis, and a Brief History of Hair Collecting

As you may have heard, 12 strands of hair that graced Michael Jackson’s head until his infamous 1984 Pepsi commercial shoot went up for auction on Saturday, selling for £1,140 (about $1,900) in London. By some macabre twist of the cosmos, clumps of Elvis’ hair (shorn during his 1958 Army induction) went on sale the next day in Chicago, selling for $15,000. (That’s chump change when it comes to Elvis memorabilia, however — at the same auction, a monogrammed shirt the singer wore sold for $62,800.)

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MgA4s9iRo4E

You might think buying hair from dead people is totally gross because, well, it is. But it’s also got a pedigree. The Victorians were all over hair jewelry, weaving strands into intricate designs that got incorporated into necklaces, earrings, and pins. Queen Victoria, that proto-Goth, was behind the trend: when Prince Albert died, the distraught monarch had rings made with his hair, which she wore all the time. Lots of Victorian writers had their tresses fashioned into hair jewelry: in his will, Coleridge asked that his hair be fashioned into six “plain gold mourning rings” for his friends. (For more on Victorian literature and hair, see the Guardian’s 2008 list “Ten of the best locks of hair.”)

The Victorians didn’t only collect hair from dead people, though. Even the living handed out their hair woven into wreaths and jewelery, as a reminder of life’s fleeting beauty. Thoughtful fiancees would sometimes pluck out a few locks and have them woven into watch chains for their betrothed, who would presumably think of their fair maidens whenever they checked the time (iPhones now seem somewhat lacking). For a glance at some Victorian hair jewlery, check out Leila’s Hair Museum or The Collector’s Encyclopedia of Hairwork Jewelry.

The Victorians didn’t invent this trend, of course. According to a 2002 article in Antiques & Collecting Magazine, the Swedes started the fad for hair jewelry in the 16th century, when they needed something to do on those long, cold Nordic nights. (Again, they didn’t have iPhones.)

And by the way, obsessed fans aren’t the only ones who buy locks of hair from celebrities. According to the book Lucy’s Bones, Sacred Stones, and Einstein’s Brain, the Morgan Library in NYC has hair that belonged to Keats and George Washington (but not at the same time), while the Library of Congress has some from Thomas Jefferson and the New York Public Library has some from Mary Shelley. Collecting hair may not make as much sense now, when we can watch the deceased on video all day long if we like, but hair is one of the few body parts to survive long after death — a direct and physical immortality that even our highest technology can’t help us achieve.

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