Hairwork is a form of art that began in the 16th century or earlier, and flourished in the Victorian era. A collection of hair from family, friends, or a gathering such as a wedding, was made into a hair wreath by making flowers of the hair. It was then put into a shadow box frame. Wreaths were also made as memorial pieces using hair from the deceased. Hairwork was used by people wanting to keep a memento of a loved one before the invention of photography.[1] Hairwork also consisted of necklaces, bracelets, rings, lockets, paintings and medallions embellished with strands of hair.[1]
Museum history
Leila Cohoon is a retired cosmetology teacher living in Independence, Missouri, who started collecting hair in 1956 and considers it to be her life work.[2] She has had a lifelong fascination with hair, and considers it one of the most interesting parts of the human body.[3][4] In 1990, having begun to run out of space in her home for her hairwork collection, Cohoon opened her hair museum in a small front room in the Independence School of Cosmetology (which she founded in 1960).[4] Later, she moved her hair museum a few blocks from the old location so as to be able to expand.[4] The new location for the museum consists of multiple rooms with walls covered from top to bottom with hairworks.[5] The museum closed down during the COVID-19 pandemic,[6] and reopened in autumn 2023 with the caveat that visitors must schedule an appointment via email.[7]
The collection
Leila’s Hair Museum has more than 300 wreaths and over 2,000 pieces of jewelry, many of which date back to before the year 1900.[2] Among her artifacts are a framed assemblage of hair from every member of a chapter of the League of Women Voters, and two frames with hair shorn from sisters who both entered a convent.[3] Her oldest exhibit is a brooch dated 1680.[1]
