This week’s clippings are about hair. Hair clippings. Get it?
Take a gander at the presidential mullet of James K. Polk. He signed off on the resolution that brought Texas into the union.
And as you know, that had consequences. Pretty soon, General Zachary Taylor was bivouacked on the beach here in Corpus Christi. The wind was not responsible for this.
Also on the scene for the war with Mexico was “Old Fuss and Feathers” General Winfield Scott. He was not fussy about his hair.
And so you don’t think this it was only members of the US establishment, here’s former President Lamar.
And Interim President David G. Burnet.
Captain Jack Hays of the Texas Rangers.
And here’s Ranger Captain Samuel Walker, he of Walker Colt revolver fame.
John Salmon “Rip” Ford. Are you seeing the pattern?
Santa Anna, in contrast, was a murderous dictator, but he owned a comb.
Texas women, unlike Texas men, kept good order up top. Here is Alamo survivor Susanna Dickinson.
And Jane Long, the Mother of Texas.
So what was the reason for “the wild look”?
As usual, history has the answer. One era is always a reaction to that which preceded it. In this case we are looking at the fruits of late Romanticism, which was a reaction to the powdered wigs and formalism of the 18th century.
What’s romantic about messed up hair? Well, that word has a bit different meaning for us than it did in the early nineteenth century.
In architectural, literary, and personal style, people were looking back to classical Roman modes. Unkempt hair was part of a natural, unpretentious aesthetic.
Works better in marble.
