Oh yes--those 19th century folks regularly had human hair worked into elaborate decorations. Pins or other ornaments made of locks from the dear departed--I've seen quite large "pictures" made all from human hair (the one that comes to mind right now is a "flower arrangement," all the flowers from hair, quite a lot of them gray). Hairpieces were probably quite common among 19th century ladies. Women did not cut their hair. You probably know that Louisa May Alcott went off to nurse Civil War soldiers and got terribly sick-- her hair was cut, and she mentioned in passing in her journal that it was two yards long (probably not unusual). Afterward, she wore hairpieces. Other women apparently added hairpieces to their own hairdos. The hair receiver was a typical accessory, and I think the hair saved was used mostly as padding or filler for a lady's hairdo, especially if her hair was not as long and thick as she would like. (Hair ornaments were probably usually made from cut locks of hair--hair saved in the hair receiver would really be too tangled to work with, I would imagine.) (Those of us who deal mainly with 2-dimensional stuff get our share of hair, too, usually included with a letter or tucked into an envlope with funeral materials.) Nan Lawer (working with manuscripts in Special Collections, Univ. of Arkansas Libraries) [log in to unmask] Nan Lawler, Special Collections University of Arkansas Libraries Fayetteville, AR 72701-1201 [log in to unmask]