Did your Mom ever save a lock of your hair? My Mom did. In fact, in my childhood photo album, I have more than just a lock. My Mom saved a huge chunk of my hair from my first real haircut. When I look at it, I think it’s kind of silly, but the part of me that is a mother totally understands wanting to save that soft, fine baby hair and keep it!!
One of my favorite things about looking through old photos is to look at how my hair styles changed over the years. You can definitely date some of my photos by the short Dorothy Hamill haircut gone wrong, or the “feathered” look. And let’s not forget the perms of the early ’90s and the “big hair” that was so desired in Texas. Haircuts say a lot about the time period, and they usually have a story behind them.
For example, it might be fun to do a layout all about the different hairstyles you had as a kid growing up. When you simply flip through an album without knowing the history behind why your Mom insisted on styling your hair that way, you might just gasp and say, “WHY???” But, wouldn’t it be more fun to journal along with the photos about each haircut and why it was popular for the times? I’m sure my kids, for example, have never even heard of Dorothy Hamill.
Looking through my Mom’s yearbooks, I also like to see the different hairstyles. The beehive was popular for a time, and in some ways, you can see that trend continuing with the “bump” that Snooki has made a trend again. I think to myself, “it must have taken a long time to tease all that hair and get it perfectly smooth like that!” Why not do a layout about hairstyles your Mother had, and get her involved in telling you the styles of her time period.
And, let’s not forget the super old photos of our ancestors. I think of the 1800’s and the photos I’ve seen during that time period, and it seems that hair was all about practicality back then. Most pictures show women with long hair that is worn up. It is much different than today’s culture where a hairstyle defines so much of your personality and who you are. Do you ever wonder if 100 years from now people will wonder why we fussed so much over our hair? Or maybe their hairstyles will be even more extreme and our descendants will wonder why our styles were so boring?
Whatever the case, hair is a part of your own personal history wouldn’t you say? Think about paying special tribute to all of your hairstyles over the years, and share with those in the future why you cut those locks the way you did!
Meredith Ethington is the author of this blog. To learn more about Meredith, and her history with Scrapbooking and Genealogy, go here. < Return To Scrapbooking