Stories Behind the Objects | Victorian Hair Wreath

Length: 5 minutes. Take a close-up look at a Museum of the Rockies artifact in 5 minutes or less! Brought to you by Lisa Verwys, Collections Manager and Registrar for Cultural History, this series explores the stories behind objects from the museum’s history collections.

Venture into the macabre and take a closer look at Victorian-era shadow box decorations made from human hair. Hair art made to specifically memorialize and remember their loved ones, like these, serve as a reminder of death and mortality. Learn more about this social custom from the late 1800s and including how and why this hair wreath and bouquet were created.