Figure 1.--Charles R. Hall was photographed in Lewiston, Maine, probably in the early 1880s. He wears long, perfectly done ringlet curls which are especially long. Notice the large rolled curl on the top of his head. Presumably the ringlets would have been thicker if this hair would have also been combed down. Image courtesy of the RG Collection.

Charles wears perfectly done, long ringlet curls. Charles certainly had a lot of hair. The curls must extend down to the middle of his back. These are longer than the curls that most boys wore. Two curls have been placed in front so they can be seen. Almosr certainly these were arranged by his mother so they would show prominently in the portrait. I am not sure how mang ringlets were in the back. Also notice the large rolled curl on the top of the head. In this regard it is similar to the choupette hair style worn by French boys in the 1940s and ealy 30s. A HBC reader comments, "The curl on top of his head is probably held with hair pins. Women at the time were quite adept at pinning up ringlets, as can be seen from period movies, which I think have quite accurate depictions of women hair styles." Presumably the ringlets would have been thicker if this hair used for the top curl would have also been combed down. The effort required to maintain such curls is one we reason that we believe that Charles came from comfortable circumstances. One question HBC is unsure of as regards ringlet curls is how the boys hair was normally done. We assume that special care was taken to do his curls perfectly for the portrait, but we wonder how is hear was done normally. Was there no difference or were there ways of doing the hair that did not require nightly curlings.

Created: April 19, 2002
Last updated: April 20, 2002