In March of 2020, my beloved dog, Ted, succumbed to cancer. As one final act of love, we opted to have a vet come to our home to make him comfortable in his final moments instead of performing euthanasia in a cold, impersonal clinic.

While most of that day is a bit of a weepy blur for me, the sweet veterinarian left us a few mementoes of our good boy. So, to make a long story short, there is now a lock of Ted’s fur on my mantle.

Now, I feel weird about this. I’m not typically one to be overly attached to things - I prefer memories and stories to items - but I don’t really know what to do about or with this relic. I loved that dog more than I love a lot of people in my life (don’t worry, my family knows), so it would feel weird for me to just… throw it away. Every so often I’ll look at it in its goofy plastic container and wonder what he’s getting into in doggy heaven, so I suppose it’s serving its purpose.

I thought this was a weird sales-y thing that a hippy vet in Denver concocted, but, as it turns out, she was far from the first. In fact, there is evidence that people preserved the hair of their loved ones as early as the Middle Ages, weaving and styling the strands into intricate works of art.

I am a big fan of art - especially mixed and creative media - but I have to say that this phase of art history was not super appealing to me when I first stumbled across it. But, like most things, it had its roots (hehe) in practicality. For as long as they’ve been around, humans have yearned for ways to connect with their loved ones after death and, before Instagram tributes made their way into history, people had to get creative. Enter hair art. Hair, as it turns out, decomposes at a drastically different rate than the rest of the human body; it can remain intact for hundreds - even thousands - of years. This made it an ideal candidate for a pre-photograph keepsake.

Victorian hair wreath [Photo from artsy.net via Google Images]

As the name implies, hair art is art and/or jewelry made out of or with human hair. In their day, these pieces served as tokens of remembrance and even as objects of worship. Hair art evolved over time but it really had its shining moment during the Victorian Era, characterized by its sentimentality. Styles had recently changed and the famous powdered wigs had fallen out of style (can’t imagine why), and hair artists and wig makers were desperate for employment. As such, they honed their craft and began producing mementoes that were elaborate and meaningful tributes to loved ones. They even worked with goldsmiths to create pieces that appealed to society’s upper crust - working in gold and gemstones with the hair.

The hair artists and wig makers had made their triumphant economic return and hair art became all the rage. Of course, not everyone could afford these designer pieces. The less financially disposed members of society often resorted to selling their hair to these artists in times of need and weren’t able to enjoy the art for themselves. This started to change in the middle of the Victorian Era as guides became available and women started to try their hand at the process in their own homes. In lieu of gems, gold, and other expensive materials, these amateur artists used wood and other common household materials, delicately wrapped in strands of hair, to create some truly impressive pieces. Eventually, commercial hair art saw a decline - not only could people make their own, they also began to distrust the authenticity of works produced by these shops. I’m not sure what benefit there would be in falsifying hair art, but more power to them for creating their own.

But, alas, all good things must come to an end. For hair art, it was the discovery of germs in the 19th century that prompted a decline in popularity. But, in Independence, Missouri, one Leila Cohoon is championing its preservation via the world’s first and only Hair Museum.

The legendary first item in Leila’s collection [Photo by Anne Kniggendorf at kcur.org]

The story goes that Leila (pronounced Lee-AYE-luh), a hairstylist, saw her first piece of hair art, a 6” by 6” gold-framed wreath, in the window of an antique shop in 1956. Her website makes mention of the urgency she felt to preserve this piece and others like it; thus her collection began. Leila’s husband refers to this piece as the “most expensive” of her collection as it led to what is today more than 3,000 pieces on display in Leila’s Hair Museum. Soon, her home was overflowing with these antiques and she moved them to the front part of the cosmetology school she owned; eventually, the collection outgrew even that and had to be moved to its own space: Leila’s Hair Museum.

Leila posing in her museum gallery [Photo from atlasobscura.com]

Today, Leila displays over 600 hair wreaths and more than 2,000 pieces of hair jewelry dating as far back as 1680, and she is not done collecting. She considers the preservation of this bygone art form to be her life’s work and even teaches classes on the techniques to visitors from all over the country. And while the main focus of Leila’s work is historical preservation and education, pop culture has snuck its way in, as well. The museum boasts hair from many famous historical figures such as Elvis, Michael Jackson, George Washington, Aaron Burr and Queen Victoria herself.

Admission to Leila’s hair museum is $15 per adult and $7.50 per child and (from what I can gather via reviews) seems to include an in-depth tour from museum staff - often Leila herself.