A hair museum is a

museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make thes ...

that has displays of hair, hair art, and/or items or paintings made using hair, for example that of celebrities. Hair museums date back to the 19th century.

History of hair art

Hair

art Art is a diverse range of human activity, and resulting product, that involves creative or imaginative talent expressive of technical proficiency, beauty, emotional power, or conceptual ideas. There is no generally agreed definition of wha ...

was a form of art that began in the 15th century and flourished in the

Victorian era In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria's reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. The era followed the Georgian period and preceded the Edwardia ...

. This form of art was used by people to keep the memory of a loved one before cameras were invented. According to the

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

history magazine hair art originated in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

and

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

, then made its way to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. This form of art consisted of

necklaces A necklace is an article of jewellery that is worn around the neck. Necklaces may have been one of the earliest types of adornment worn by humans. They often serve ceremonial, religious, magical, or funerary purposes and are also used as symbol ...

bracelets A bracelet is an article of jewellery that is worn around the wrist. Bracelets may serve different uses, such as being worn as an ornament. When worn as ornaments, bracelets may have a supportive function to hold other items of decoration, suc ...

rings Ring may refer to: * Ring (jewellery), a round band, usually made of metal, worn as ornamental jewelry * To make a sound with a bell, and the sound made by a bell :(hence) to initiate a telephone connection Arts, entertainment and media Film and ...

lockets Lockets are a confectionery produced by the Wrigley Company in the United Kingdom, UK and Czech Republic. They are sold as medicated supplement to help nasal congestion and sore throats. Flavours They are available in multiple flavours including ...

paintings Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ai ...

, and medallions. These items would be embellished with strands of hair from a loved one.

Avanos Hair Museum

A pottery center/guest house in Avanos, Turkey, created the Avanos Hair Museum; its displays are thousands of locks of hair, all from female visitors. Reportedly the local potter, Chez Galip, was bidding farewell to a friend of his when he asked for something to remember her by, and she cut off a piece of her hair to leave as a reminder. He put it up in his shop, and told the story to the visitors and tourists who passed through. Other women who enjoyed the story left a piece of their hair as well. The museum started in 1979 when a selection was put up for display. It now holds an estimated 16,000 samples by the museum's own count and is included in the Guinness Book of World Records. Twice a year, in June and December, the first customer who comes in Chez Galip’s shop is invited down into the Hair Museum to choose ten winners off the walls. These ten receive an all-expenses-paid week-long vacation in Cappadocia, where they participate in his pottery workshops for free.

Leila's Hair Museum

One of the most famous and oldest hair museums is Leila's Hair Museum, located in Kansas City, Missouri.

References

Sources

* Castaneda, Erin.
Hair art history unlocked
" LJWorld. 7 Aug. 2009. Accessed 20 October 2009. * Hendricks, Mike. "Mike Hendricks column: Go ahead, Philly, and try to top this." ''

The Kansas City Star ''The Kansas City Star'' is a newspaper based in Kansas City, Missouri. Published since 1880, the paper is the recipient of eight Pulitzer Prizes. ''The Star'' is most notable for its influence on the career of President Harry S. Truman and a ...

'', 18 February 2008: 1–3. *
Human Hair Ornaments
" Minnesota History Summer 1974: 70–74. Minnesota History. Minnesota Historical Society collections. Accessed 21 October 2009. * Kirby, Doug, Ken Smith, and Mike Wilkins.
Leila's Hair Museum
" RoadsideAmerica. Accessed 16 October 2009. *
Leila's Hair Museum
." Hairworks. Accessed 16 October 2009. * Rombeck, Terry.
Museum tangled in history of hair
" LJWorld. Accessed 20 October 2009. * Uhlenbroch, Tom. "Strand by strand, museum dedicated to collecting hair art." St. Louis Post-Dispatch (MO) 28 April 2005: 1–2. {{DEFAULTSORT:Hair Museum

Museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make thes ...

Types of museums