Pennsylvania, 1861: A clump of petrified, hazel locks rests obtrusively in the center of “Delia A. Willet’s ‘Hair Book.’” Fashioned out of a dime-store notebook, the unsettling artifact adorned with hair and handwriting of twenty-four of Delia’s intimate friends (twenty-five including our “author,”) is a rare example of the once insanely popular “Hairwork Albums.” Eighteenth and nineteenth century Americans loved to ask friends and family to fill booklets with hair and kind words. Unlike similar types of sentimental collections, such as photo-albums or yearbooks, Hairwork Albums held specific purposes: they celebrated friendship and helped to mourn absence or loss. In the wake of tragedy, the death of a loved one or a family member going to war, those left behind collected physical souvenirs to remember the absent friend or lover. Prior to photography, hair frequently served as a visceral physical memento; in keeping hair, you held onto a literal piece of the absent person.
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The exquisite hair wreath displayed next to the Hair Album, on loan fromthe Riley County Historical Society, showcases the popularity of hair artwork beyond booklets. Hair artwork was intricate, refined, yet available to everyone (at least, everyone with hair.) While the hair wreath represents a triumph of prowess and precision, the “Hair Book” rejoices in simplicity and bald-faced sentiment.
Delia (short for Cordelia) Willett’s sentimental collaboration was probably motivated by her brother, aptly named Harry, who went to fight in the Civil War. A heartfelt poem, written by Harry on April 29th, 1861, explicitly implores Delia to “look at it [his hair] and think of me.” The touching message evidences the strong bond between brother and sister; however, Delia continued making her Hair Book until October 26th, 1863. This was because Delia met a man, a Mr. Benjamin Rop. The two married and, seeking financial independence as farmers in the West, moved from Wells Country in Pennsylvania to Fairmount Township in Leavenworth County, Kansas. The Hair Book became a way for Delia to remember friends and family gone. The wear and tear on the book, the ripped pages and detached cover, suggest how frequently Delia leafed through the mementos of friends and family. Harry’s last words to his sister must have been a particular favorite, being “Though on land, or broad blue sea//I’ll think of you, wherever I be."
Delia (short for Cordelia) Willett’s sentimental collaboration was probably motivated by her brother, aptly named Harry, who went to fight in the Civil War. A heartfelt poem, written by Harry on April 29th, 1861, explicitly implores Delia to “look at it [his hair] and think of me.” The touching message evidences the strong bond between brother and sister; however, Delia continued making her Hair Book until October 26th, 1863. This was because Delia met a man, a Mr. Benjamin Rop. The two married and, seeking financial independence as farmers in the West, moved from Wells Country in Pennsylvania to Fairmount Township in Leavenworth County, Kansas. The Hair Book became a way for Delia to remember friends and family gone. The wear and tear on the book, the ripped pages and detached cover, suggest how frequently Delia leafed through the mementos of friends and family. Harry’s last words to his sister must have been a particular favorite, being “Though on land, or broad blue sea//I’ll think of you, wherever I be."
Adam Smith
To see what Adam Smith found out about Cordelia Willett's Hair Book
Click on the link below
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Hair Out of Place | |
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