The whole celebrity culture thing – I’m fascinated by, and repelled by, and yet I end up knowing about it.
—Anderson Cooper
Okay, so I just finished a mystery (which I enjoyed very much): Mansions of the Dead, by Sarah Stewart Taylor. I won’t give anything away by mentioning that mourning jewelry played an important role in the novel. That’s mourning jewelry as in jewelry made from hair. Like, dead people’s hair. I know, right?
So, as I read about this jewelry I had two equal reactions:
- Yuck
- I want one
Crazy, right? It’s inexplicable…I am both repelled and fascinated. I mentioned this to my husband who gave me one of his you-have-completely-lost-your-mind (again) looks. I believe he comes down pretty firmly on the repelled side of this equation.
To try to nip this new obsession interest in the bud, I ordered an antique carved jet necklace (non-hairy mourning jewelry) on ebay, which is pretty cool, really. But, I’ll be honest, I don’t know if it’s going to be enough. I’m a little worried it’s going to be like when I want a cookie, but I eat an apple because I know it’s a better choice, but then I end up eating the cookie later anyway because…well because the apple wasn’t what I was obsessing about wanting.
Seriously, I’m maybe the least gothy person I know…Doris Day rather than Helena Boham Carter. And I’m not really into collecting things either. The only thing I have a lot of is books, and they’re not rare books or anything; they’re just ones I’ve read or plan to read. So, would I actually wear something that has some dead nineteenth century person’s hair in it? Could I? I will say it would be quite the conversation starter…or possibly ender.
I must confess…lately, I’m starting to worry that as I get older my light quirkiness just might condense into a dark, sticky fruitcake-lady battiness. Sigh.
Melissa DeCarlo 
This jewelry seems very odd. Is it supposed to be from someone that you know and are mourning? Or will hair from any person do? I understand that now you buy it just for “fun,” but what was the original purpose?
I’m assuming it’s to have something from the person that you lost…something you can keep with you to remind you of that person. Like we’d keep a photo in a locket.
I have a black onyx mourning ring, it is huge with a victorian cameo carved into it, (was my G-Grandmothers so all good) but sadly No hair, though it is very wide, maybe there is a secret compartment or something.. c
sounds really lovely…
That stuff brings some serious jingle on antique roadshow. Check out funerary jewelry next, you’ll defintely want some of that.
like from a tomb or something? I suspect that sort of ancient type stuff is way out of my league–sounds museumy. ha! Glad you stopped by, MK