Victorian Hair Receivers

It has often been said that “hair is a woman’s crowning glory”, and fashionable Victorians were truly believers in this sentiment. Toward that end, hair receivers served an important role in helping Victorian women look their best.

Vanity sets were very commonplace in the Victorian era, and, whether the set had many pieces or just a few, a hair receiver was usually one of the components. Mostly round in shape but sometimes square as well, hair receivers are easily identified by their center lid hole where one or two fingers could poke hair pulled from brushes and combs into the receiver underneath.

Considered collectibles today, in Victorian times and even as late as the 1950s, hair receivers had a far more practical application. A daily ritual of vigorous hair brushing left quite a bit of hair in women’s combs and brushes, and this hair would be removed and pushed through the opening of the hair receiver.

When enough hair was collected, women could then use the tangled balls of hair to make ratts (also spelled “rats”) by sewing the ball of hair into a small sheer net. Because the use of any makeup beyond a touch of face powder could give a woman the disgraceful reputation of being a “painted lady”, a lot of effort went into designing attention-getting hairstyles with height and volume – this included what we would call “big hair” - large, full updos made possible by tucking ratts into various areas of the hairdo.

There were other uses for this collection of hair, too: it was sometimes used instead of feathers as stuffing for small pillows or pincushions, it could be sold to make wigs, and some believe this hair was also used to make hair jewelry, though other experts feel that the tangled hair was not usable for such fine work, but rather combed hair would be cut deliberately to make this type of jewelry.

You can find hair receivers made from a number of different materials, including porcelain, celluloid, wood, metal, and glass. They can be footed or sit flat on the dresser and they were made in various countries, including Japan. The prices for these collectible pieces can range from under $10 up to well over $100 for fine antique examples.

Hair receivers and other Victorian treasures can be found at Collector's Cottage.