Existing comment:
Accessory to Mourning
The death of George Washington sparked American interest in mourning goods. The president's hair was "harvested," a common custom, many years before his death. Martha Washington supplied her husband's hair to friends, associates, and fraternal societies as souvenirs of the beloved president.
The advent of photography in the mid-19th century hastened the decline for portrait miniatures, which no longer captured the most accurate depictions of loved ones. Instead, curls and locks of hair were worked into different types of jewelry, particularly for women. Sometimes these precious accessories celebrated a birth, engagement, or wedding, but they commonly memorialized a deceased loved one.
With high death rates due to infant mortality, childbirth, epidemics, or war, 19th-century Americans sought solace through religion, spirituality, and material goods. |