Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1889-07-30
BLONDE HAIR.
Something About the Fair Haired
Beauties Of All Ages.

From Medical C1assics.
Blonde hair as fashion can be traced back
to classic, romantic, pictorial or poetic source
1t was equally irresistible in Rome when Rome
was the mistress Of the world, and in Venice
when Venice was the recognized queen Of the
Adriatic. We find it illustrated or recorded by
the pens Of Ovid and Catullus and the pencils
OF Titan and Giorgione. The Chloes, Pyrrhas
| and Cynthias, as well as the Lauras, Lucretias
and Leonoras, were blondes; and the manner
in which they acquired or increased their in
dispensable attractiveness in this respect has
supplied material for many . curious chapter
in the history Of morals and manners.
In the sixteenth century those who were not
naturally blondes became so artifcially. To be
blonde had become an art, and what at hrst,
century, was still but caprice OF coquetry,
had become later. under Titan and Paul
Veronese, the dream and the necessity OF the
generality Of Venetian women. Agnes Sorrel,
Diane de Poitiers, Gabrielle distress, Ninon
de fEncios, La valiiere and o large percentage
Of the women celebrated in history for their
beauty were blondes. So was Paule de Tou-
louise, who was followed by SO tumultuous
crowd Of admirers whenever she went abroad
as to compel the interference OF the magistrates
to keep the peace. Phryne corrupted her
judges by standing before them with no cover
ing but her glorious golden hair. Minerva,
Venus, Aurora, Flora, Pomona, are all pictured
as blondes
A single extract from a curious book Of three
| centuries ago will suffice to show how the danes
OF Venice set to work to acquire the coveted
blonde tint, the dangers they incurred and
what privations they endured in the attainment
OF it. Cesare Vecellio, writing in 1889, gives q
picture OF the would-be fair Venetian, with her
dripping head exposed to the sun:
''The houses in Venice are commonly crowned
with little constructions in wood, resembling
a turret without a roof, on the ground. These
lodges or boxes are formed Of masonry, doored
| like what are called terrazzi at Florence and
Naples. and covered with a cement of sand and
! lime to protect them from the rain. It is in
these that the Venetian women may be seen
as often, and indeed oftener, than in their
chambers; it is here that, with their heads ex-
posed to the full ardor of the sun during the
whole day, they strain every nerve to augment
| their charms, as if they needed it, as II the
constant use Of 30 many methods known to
all did not expose their natural beauty to pass
| for no better than artificial. During the hours
| when the sun darts its most vertical and
| scorching rays they repair to these boxes and
tended. Seated there they keep on wetting
their hair with a sponge dipped in some elixir
of youth, often prepared by their own
hands. They moisten their hair afresh as
fast as it is dried by the sun, and it IL by the
nnceasing renewal Of this operation that they
thus engaged they throw over their ordinary
dress peignoir or dressing gown of the finest
white silk, which they call schiavonetto. They
wear on their heads straw hat without q
crown, SO that the hair drawn through the
opening may be spread upon the borders. This
hat, doing double duty as drying line for the
hair and parasol to protect the neck and face,
Is called solana. In winter, or when the sun
| failed, they wetted and dried their hair before
q fire."
Tba ,z.a.;s. 5r-o.;o. - ALI. g.. -
in doubt. 1t certainly lasted long enough to
exercise q marked influence on art, and we
| learn from the same authority that it spread
rapidly, Including all Italy, if not all Eu-
rope"
Of all the various shades of color, light vel
low, golden, or blonde hair has been the most
esteemed; 'fair-haired" is a household word
with all Greek writer's, while with the Latins
| Gas in our own times) it was the fashionable
| color. Chestnut is another popular shade;
Christ is always SO represented, and many of
| the Madonnas of the old masters.
Red hair some years ago was not admired,
| yet now it is almost as much esteemed as yell
low,as barbers-we beg pardon, 'craniologists. "
! as they term themselves nowadays-by means
of certain charms" can produce upon it a
| beautiful golden yellowish sheen that ''out-
yellows yellow itself. Red hair was always an
| object OF aversion among the ancients. Ages
| before the time of Judas Iscariot red hair
was thought a mark Of reprobation. Typhon
| and Nebuchadnezzar are instances of this: the
former, who acquired it because he deprived
| his brother OF the scepter of Egypt, and the
| latter, VINO bore it in expiation Of his atroci-
| ties. Even the donkey tribe suffered from
this i-omened visitation, according to the
proverb of wicked as a red ass" Asses of that
color were held in such high detestaton by the
Copts that every year they sacrificed one By
hurting it from high wall. Black hair was
! not much esteemed by the Romans; but red
| was detested. Black is always used on the
| stage with such characters pirates, robbers,
desperate Williams, &C., although it is probable
| that many OF the worst criminals have had
| hair of other shades. Auburn is the shade
| given by Byron to his famous Haidee:
| Her hairs long auburn waves"
Light brown was thought the most dis
| tinguished, as portending intelligence, indus
| try, peaceful disposition, az well as a great
susceptibility TO tender passions. Castor and
| Polluz had brown hair. as also had Menelaus.
Fright and other strong mental emotions have
been given the credit of turning the hair white,
| sometimes even lin a single night" but the
accomplishment of the reverse of the process
turning white hair black, is not generally known
of as a possibility, although it rests upon
good evidence. In the Therapeutic Gazette for
| April Is an account of a case where the snow.
| white hair of woman of seventy-two became
| black in patches after the use of Saborandi for
| the relief Of the pruritus accompanying chronic
| interstitial nephritis. The case is reported by
DIR. ID. W. Prentiss, of Washington, professor
| of materia medica and therapeutics in the
| medical department Of Columbian university
/ DIR. Prentiss says that he reported similar
case. in 1881, in the Philadelphia Medical Times
and that the patient is now living and is well
| known to many people in Washington, her hair
| remaining dark brown while it was of a light.
| blonde color before she took pilocarpine eight