Something of interest for an AOT impression

[LWhite64]

While going through some recent items that I had found online I came across an account from a soldier in the 41st Mississippi Infantry of the "High Pressure" Brigade, one of the Nice Bragg loving units of the Army(seriously). Anyway, this letter is from April of 1863 from a soldier by the name of Marshall. In the letter he writes:"Col. Tucker has ordered every man to shingle his hair and cut off his whiskers." Now this came as a surprise to me, has anyone else seen anything like this in a CS Regiment? It struck me as unusual.

Lee

[hireddutchcutthroat]

Re: Something of interest for an AOT impression

What does "shingle" ones hair mean? Im afraid I dont have enough shingles left on my head to shingle :confused_

[markj]

Re: Something of interest for an AOT impression

While going through some recent items that I had found online I came across an account from a soldier in the 41st Mississippi Infantry of the "High Pressure" Brigade, one of the Nice Bragg loving units of the Army(seriously). Anyway, this letter is from April of 1863 from a soldier by the name of Marshall. In the letter he writes:"Col. Tucker has ordered every man to shingle his hair and cut off his whiskers." Now this came as a surprise to me, has anyone else seen anything like this in a CS Regiment? It struck me as unusual.

Lee

The ladies could probably give us a better idea but, on the whole, a "shingle" cut seems to have been a short, layered haircut, short in the front. "Shingled hair" was popular among women (especially "flappers") in the 1920's.

Regards,

Mark Jaeger

[Virginia Mescher]

Re: Something of interest for an AOT impression

The ladies could probably give us a better idea but, on the whole, a "shingle" cut seems to have been a short, layered haircut, short in the front. "Shingled hair" was popular among women (especially "flappers") in the 1920's.

Regards,

Mark Jaeger

Mark,

Here is a lady with very long hair chiming in. Shingled hair does mean to cut in short layers but the women in the 20s wore 'bobbed' hair which is a short blunt cut.

[markj]

Re: Something of interest for an AOT impression

Mark,

Here is a lady with very long hair chiming in. Shingled hair does mean to cut in short layers but the women in the 20s wore 'bobbed' hair which is a short blunt cut.

Hi Virginia,

I did a Google search (wish I had some of its stock right now!) and, actually, "shingled" hair was popular in the 1920's and 30's. I found numerous references to it in contemporary literature.

For your perusal, here is a 1920's oil portrait of a woman stated as wearing "shingled hair":

http://www.invaluable.com/richardwinterton/xq/asp/SaleID.1089162/LotNumber.54/qx/lot.htm

Of course, the big question is "What did that 41st Mississippi soldier really mean when he wrote "shingle his hair....?'"

Regards,

Mark Jaeger

[markj]

Re: Something of interest for an AOT impression

Here's another reference to "shingled hair" from the Cornell "Making of America" site:

This one is from "Our Christmas Party" as published in the January 1859 Harper's New Monthly Magazine (page 203). The writer states "my hair was 'shingled' and the white skin contrasted with the short back bristles."

http://cdl.library.cornell.edu/cgi-bin/moa/moa-cgi?notisid=ABK4014-0018-32

I also found this:

"half-shingle: a hair style in which the hair grew long around the head but cut short on top. Popular for men and women in the 1840's."

http://www.flinc.net/vell/articlehairmen.htm

Here's another description of a "half-shingle":

* At the turn of the 20th century, a "Half-Shingle" (hair parted behind the head and combed up over the ears) came with a lather and a shave, and for a few extra cents, a shoe shine.

http://www.columbian.com/08112004/life/175929.html

Period works on barbering and hairdressing may provide further descriptions and even illustrations of "shingling." Here's one work that might provide a lead:

Thatford, Gilbert S., Firm, Hair Dressers. Thatford's illustrated styles of cutting and dressing the hair. New York: Baker, Goodwin & Co., 1854. 16 pps., illus.

Regards,

Mark Jaeger

[Virginia Mescher]

Re: Something of interest for an AOT impression

Hi Virginia,

I did a Google search (wish I had some of its stock right now!) and, actually, "shingled" hair was popular in the 1920's and 30's. I found numerous references to it in contemporary literature.

For your perusal, here is a 1920's oil portrait of a woman stated as wearing "shingled hair":

Mark Jaeger

Mark,

Thaks for the clairfication.