Vigo County Historical Society

Historical Treasure Article

Historic Treasure of the Week - March 24, 1985
By LaVonne Waldron
Vigo County Historical Society

Saving hair was a day's fashion

Today's treasure brought back memories of the first time I saw a hair receiver.

I was 8 years old and had walked home from school in the spring sunshine. After climbing the spiral staircase, I located my mother, cleaning the closet in the master bedroom.

We sat on the bed and I asked why the sugar bowl she had unpacked from the box had a large hole in the lid. She explained that it was a hair receiver and that her mother had kept it on her dresser. Any hairs left in her comb or brush were wound around her fingers and poked into the receiver.

My reaction was the equivalent of today's "yuck" and I never did learn why she saved the hair. We spoke instead of the grandmother who was only a portrait to me. I've lovely memories of that day.

Looking at the Victorian hair wreaths we have in the museum, one wonders if that was a possible use for the hair saved in the receivers. However, I think I have discovered my grandmother's purpose.

Early in the 20th century, ladies began fashioning hairdos of voluminous quantities of hair supplemented with "rats" (pads over which the hair was arranged). Imitating the imaginary Gibson Girl, they swept their hair up into soft pompadours, puffed for a cloud effect, rolled from temple to temple over a rat to give it the necessary width.

Although horsehair rats were available, many women saved their own hair to fashion the rats that were needed. The hair receiver was a convenient way to collect stray hairs.

The hair receiver and tray in the museum were made in Limoges, France, and bear the mark PL. They are translucent white porcelain embellished with gold rims. A gold initial "M" decorates the lid.

The hair receiver and tray were the property of Joy Muchmore Lacey, the wife of Joseph B. Lacey. The initial of her maiden name leads one to suppose she received them as a young lady and treasured them as a keepsake. Since we know that she graduated from the Normal School in 1910, it seems quite possible that the hair receiver helped her create her own special coiffure in the style of that era.

In the summer of 1945, Joy Muchmore Lacey resigned as Professor of Education at Indiana State Teachers College to devote her time to writing. She had been on staff since 1913 and had received her doctor's degree from Columbia University in 1932. Mrs. Lacey died July 21, 1970.

The dainty hair receiver, cherished by this distinguished lady, has become an historical treasure, giving us a glimpse of life in an earlier time.

As you put away winter things, and prepare for spring, linger a moment with a special keepsake you have stored away. I hope there will be time to share it with a child or a grandchild, Ordinary things become special treasures because they were part of a earlier time or part of the life of someone we have loved.

You, too can see a hair receiver for the first time. The closet cleaning is done and we can't guarantee the sunshine. However, you can climb the spiral staircase and find one in the master bedroom of the Historical Museum of the Wabash Valley.

Locate at 1411 S. Sixth St., the museum is open from 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday through Friday.