I come from several generations of strong (stubborn) independent women. However, I find it hard to believe that getting your hair cut short could be considered being "The Dark One"!
My grandmother wrote on the back of the photo "The Dark One of the Family - the day I cut my hair short". She was 21 years old.
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| Eva Pilgrim - Almond Dale, Winiam 3 January 1932 "The Dark One of the Family - The day I cut my hair short" |
She also had a photo taken the day before. It is difficult to see the difference.
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| Eva Pilgrim - Almond Dale, Winiam 2 January 1932 "The day before I got my hair cut - worn in plaits over the ears" |
Another photo (below) taken the same year shows my grandmother with her sisters. The long plaits of her sisters are evident but I cannot tell if this was before or after the hair cut. Probably after? What do you think?
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| 1932 - Pilgrim sisters - Almond Dale, Winiam |
In the photo below, the rolled plaits are just evident. Unfortunately, I cannot locate a photo taken from the side, which shows them clearly.
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| Eva Pilgrim - 1931 |
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| Eva Pilgrim - 1928 (17.5 years old) |
How teenage fashion has changed over the years!
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| This post was inspired by Sepia Saturday.Please click to see more posts. |
If Eva got her hair cut on 3 January, it seems likely that she had short hair in your third photograph, unless it was taken on 1 or 2 January.
ReplyDeleteWell now I feel silly! Typed the date but didn't really pay attention! Maybe it was a New Years Resolution?
DeleteShort hair! Scandalous. I wonder what everyone meant by "dark one" though. I guess a girl would have to shave half her head and dye the other half pink and then spike it to be called "the dark one" today.
ReplyDeleteLol. Think today that they would need to do a lot worse than that!
DeleteIn the 1920s my grandmother, then in her teens, deliberately burned her long hair by sitting too close to the fire because she wanted a 'bob' & her father wouldn't allow it. That's one way of doing it, I guess?
ReplyDeleteShe must really have wanted short hair!!!! A dangerous way to get short hair!
DeleteYou have such a wonderful collection of richly documented old photos, it is always a pleasure to see them.
ReplyDeleteThank you Alan. Very lucky that my grandmother loved her box brownie :)
DeleteIt looks like her sisters all have lighter hair than she does. Could that be why she called herself the dark one, because her hair was dark?
ReplyDeleteVery Good Kristin. I hadn't thought of it that way. When they were all alive, I only knew them as gray headed! The number of times that I had looked at the photo of all the girls and not noticed the difference in hair colour! My thoughts when looking at the photo were always the age difference as my grandmother was so much older! Thank you :)
DeleteHer hair looks darker than her sisters. Could that be why?
ReplyDeleteI can't see the plaits in the second picture, but that is a cool shadow of the horse.
ReplyDeleteNo me neither but Gran had written that they were curled over her ears. Pity there are no side on photos!
DeleteI enjoyed following you through your hair experience. Fine old pictures!
ReplyDeleteI love that Sepia Saturday takes you in directions that you would not have visited otherwise!
DeleteHadn't ever heard the dark one before, but I know the only time I saw my grandmother or her mother without their long hair was when it was held up tight! Except in Germany, my grandmother always had shorter hair. These are great family photos, and yes just as your blog is titled, female strong!!
ReplyDeleteThere was a brother too but I will need to find another reason to write about him.
DeleteYes, having short hair in the 20s was a big no no. Doesn't that seem bizarre now?
ReplyDeleteNancy
Ladies of the Grove
My mother had long hair for years and wanted it short but Dad wouldn't let her............my husband doesn't get a say on my hair......and doesn't notice when I change it anyway!
DeleteI'm with Kristin. I think she just means in comparison to her sister's shade of hair, hers is darker.
ReplyDeleteMy parents are (were) both dark but my sister and I are blonde. Maybe our colouring came from the grand Aunts?
DeleteI also think it could be to do with colour, but just before my wedding, in 1969 mind you, one of my aunts told me that I would have to cut my long hair now, as it wasn't seemly to have long hair as a married woman.. I was 21! I'm a few times past 21 now and I still have long hair! :-) love all your wonderful photos and seeing the plaits. I could sit on my plaits when I was small, sadly I had to get them cut off when I was about 6, as my mother had bad hands and couldn't plait them any more. I cried for a week at least and learnt to plait as soon as my small fingers would let me. Interesting post as always, Sharon.
ReplyDeleteI changed to short hair after my daughter was born and haven't looked back since. I was never any good at styling hair and short hair is easy!
DeleteMu mother also told me the tale of having her hair bobbed and presenting herself at the dinner table and waited for her father's anger.
ReplyDeleteI remember getting my ears pierced at school and waiting for my dad to get angry. He didn't even notice!
DeleteWhat an interesting collection of photos...good job staying on theme as well as having "sepia tones." It really must have been shocking when women started cutting their long hair...not to mention what a difference it made in the care of their hair, in days when baths and sinks had a lot to do with washing hair. Of course braiding my long hair now is going against the norm with white hair.
ReplyDeleteSince doing this post, I realised that I also have a photo of my grandmothers uncle who was the unofficial barber of the area with his scissors and 'tool" box. He could have been the one who cut her hair.
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