Macassar oil is a compounded

oil An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) & lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturated ...

that was used primarily by Western European men throughout the 1800s and early 1900s as a

hair conditioner Hair conditioner is a hair care cosmetic product used to improve the feel, texture, appearance, and manageability of hair. Its main purpose is to reduce friction between strands of hair to allow smoother brushing or combing, which might otherwise ...

to groom and style the hair. It was popularised by Alexander Rowland (1747–1823), a celebrated London barber. It was then not uncommon for barbers to make their own hair preparations, and around 1793 Rowland began offering Rowland's Macassar Oil. Within two decades it had become hugely popular, and was aggressively advertised with extravagant claims of its effectiveness, becoming one of the first nationally advertised products. The words ''Macassar Oil'' were registered as a trademark by A. Rowland & Sons in 1888. Rowland's son (also named Alexander) later stated that a relative living in the island of

Celebes Sulawesi (), also known as Celebes (), is an island in Indonesia. One of the four Greater Sunda Islands, and the world's eleventh-largest island, it is situated east of Borneo, west of the Maluku Islands, and south of Mindanao and the Sulu A ...

in the

Dutch East Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies ( nl, Nederlands(ch)-Indië; ), was a Dutch colony consisting of what is now Indonesia. It was formed from the nationalised trading posts of the Dutch East India Company, which ...

had helped in procurement of the basic ingredient. Macassar oil is often made with

vegetable oils Vegetable oils, or vegetable fats, are oils extracted from seeds or from other parts of fruits. Like animal fats, vegetable fats are ''mixtures'' of triglycerides. Soybean oil, grape seed oil, and cocoa butter are examples of seed oils, or fat ...

, such as

coconut The coconut tree (''Cocos nucifera'') is a member of the palm tree family ( Arecaceae) and the only living species of the genus ''Cocos''. The term "coconut" (or the archaic "cocoanut") can refer to the whole coconut palm, the seed, or the ...

palm Palm most commonly refers to: * Palm of the hand, the central region of the front of the hand * Palm plants, of family Arecaceae **List of Arecaceae genera * Several other plants known as "palm" Palm or Palms may also refer to: Music * Palm (ba ...

Kusum oil Kusum oil is a type of oil extracted from the seed of the Kusum tree (''Schleichera oleosa''). The plant, which is also commonly known as Ceylon oak, lac tree, or Macassar oiltree, belongs to the family Sapindaceae. The sapindaceae family is n ...

, combined with fragrant oils such as

ylang-ylang ''Cananga odorata'', known as ylang-ylang ( ) or cananga tree, is a tropical tree that is native to the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, and Queensland, Australia. It is also native to parts of Thailand and Viet ...

. Macassar oil was so named because it was reputed to have been manufactured from ingredients purchased in the port of

Makassar Makassar (, mak, ᨆᨀᨔᨑ, Mangkasara’, ) is the capital of the Indonesian province of South Sulawesi. It is the largest city in the region of Eastern Indonesia and the country's fifth-largest urban center after Jakarta, Surabaya, Med ...

in the

. The poet

Byron George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824), known simply as Lord Byron, was an English romantic poet and Peerage of the United Kingdom, peer. He was one of the leading figures of the Romantic movement, and h ...

facetiously called it "thine incomparable oil, Macassar" in the first canto of ''

Don Juan Don Juan (), also known as Don Giovanni (Italian), is a legendary, fictional Spanish libertine who devotes his life to seducing women. Famous versions of the story include a 17th-century play, '' El burlador de Sevilla y convidado de piedra'' ...

'', and

Lewis Carroll Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (; 27 January 1832 – 14 January 1898), better known by his pen name Lewis Carroll, was an English author, poet and mathematician. His most notable works are ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (1865) and its sequel ...

also mentions "Rowland's Macassar Oil" in the poem "

Haddocks' Eyes "Haddocks' Eyes" is a song sung by The White Knight from Lewis Carroll's 1871 novel ''Through the Looking-Glass'', chapter VIII. "Haddocks' Eyes" is an example used to elaborate on the symbolic status of the concept of "name": a name as iden ...

" from ''

Through the Looking-Glass ''Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There'' (also known as ''Alice Through the Looking-Glass'' or simply ''Through the Looking-Glass'') is a novel published on 27 December 1871 (though indicated as 1872) by Lewis Carroll and the ...

''.

An obese bald-headed old man seated in an armchair while a s Wellcome V0019909

Due to the tendency for the oil to transfer from the user's hair to the back of his chair, the

antimacassar An antimacassar is a small cloth placed over the backs or arms of chairs, or the head or cushions of a sofa, to prevent soiling of the permanent fabric underneath.Fleming, John & Hugh Honour. (1977) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Decorative Art ...

was developed. This is a small cloth (

crochet Crochet (; ) is a process of creating textiles by using a crochet hook to interlock loops of yarn, thread (yarn), thread, or strands of other materials. The name is derived from the French term ''crochet'', meaning 'hook'. Hooks can be made from ...

ed, embroidered or mass-produced), placed over the back of a chair to protect the upholstery.

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian e ...

, ''

Sketches by Boz ''Sketches by "Boz," Illustrative of Every-day Life and Every-day People'' (commonly known as ''Sketches by Boz'') is a collection of short pieces Charles Dickens originally published in various newspapers and other periodicals between 1833 and ...

'' 1836: Tales: Ch 4, The Tuggses at Ramsgate

References

External links

Macassar Oil for the Hair
recipe from ''The White House Cookbook'' (1887) Hairdressing Hair care products {{material-stub

See also

References

External links