Gray Hair?

[Barry Smithson]

Before you laugh, this is a serious question. Moderator please let me know if I posted in the wrong section.

I have been upgrading my kit this year as well as getting back into shape (put on some weight after having the hands reconstructed again) so as to improve my impression. I’ve spent my off time reading first hand accounts as well as the redbook. By spring I should look much closer to a typical artilleryman except for one glaring issue, gray hair and beard. I do not mind the gray look for everyday appearances, but it really stands out and marks me as too old for the typical CW soldier.

What is the consensus of the forum on this? Anyone else dye it just during the season? Is it vanity or a valid question?

Thanks in advance for the input.

[ThehosGendar]

Re: Gray Hair?

While certainly not the norm, there are a few photograph instances.

From one of the companies of the 93rd New York (I forget which and I'm having a lazy spurt right now and didn't look it up):



An image in front of a Sanitary Commission post in Washington:

[Secede1863]

Re: Gray Hair?

Well Sir,
I would think it would depend on what year you were doing your impression.
I am sure others have this problem to and It is good you brought it up.
Perhaps If you would not like it do be gray or white dying it might be for you. (Period Dyes? Just For Men?)

If you donot want to dye it but would still want your same impression maybe shorting your beard (or trimming it) depending on your beards size.

If you STILL don't like those options you could change your impression to an officer who would presumeably be older and would carry a nice full white or gray beard.

Thats my Two cents,

Andrew Stebbins

[Barry Smithson]

Re: Gray Hair?

Thanks, I tried clipping the beard shorter but it is still white. The officer impression is not an option, I am a private in my unit and have no desire to be an officer. I was an infantry officer in the regular army for 9 years and do want to be in my hobby too.

Would I be better off just shaving the beard and cutting the hair short for the season? What do you other less than very young guys do?

[Spinster]

Re: Gray Hair?

Just as a gentleman's head may begin to bald in his early 20's, grey hair is not necessarily a hallmark of age--it may be one of illness or of a great shock in life. (I had a female relative whose long red hair had a perfectly straight line of color change, above which grew only white--the line first became evident about a month after the death of her youngest son, by horrendous accident, and in front of her eyes)

Should your remaining general appearance not support the idea of recent grave illness or hardship, you should look to the rolls of your unit, correlated with birthdate or census records if possible. If there were a number of aged 35+ men in the unit, you can support your white hair as a reasonable supposition. If it was primarily a young unit, time for the clippers or the dye bottle.

Also look to the flip side of your Federal impression--if you are doing Confederate late war, one would begin to see older men in the ranks.

The one thing I do NOT recommend is attempting to do this with a period dye.
Since most of my dyepots smell like a running sewer before I even begin the dye process, the use of such creations on the hair would not make you welcome, even amongst those who love you best. ;)

[HOG.EYE.MAN]

Re: Gray Hair?

Hello,

I would think it would depend on what year you were doing your impression.

Andrew, what does this statment have to do with anything?

If you STILL don't like those options you could change your impression to an officer who would presumeably be older and would carry a nice full white or gray beard.

Andrew, you make it sound so simple. Not everyone is cut out to be an officer, plus it depends on his unit and yadda, yadda, yadda. This isn't the mainstream.

I recommend shaving the beard and buying "just for men" for the hair. Or if your heart is set on keeping the beard, then color that too. Nothing wrong with that. People wear contacts, so why not change the hair color. Put it this way, I would rather see (colored) hair over gray hair any day. Plus, no one will ever tell the difference except your close pards. I know people will argue with me, but I think gray hair is OVER represented in our hobby.
Lets be realistic here.....The majority didn't have gray hair.

Nothing ruins an impression more than gray hair.

This is my opinion....

[2RIVB]

Re: Gray Hair?

I'm 23 and going gray. I guess many young men of the 1860s would have gone gray at a rather young age. So, I don't see the big deal, should I dye my hair to be more authentic? I don't see going gray as a big deal that will drastically impact my reenacting. Hell, by the time I'm 30 I will probably all gray.

[ThehosGendar]

Re: Gray Hair?

"The majority didn't have gray hair."

Yep. Of the thousands of soldiers I've seen in images, these were the only two that I've seen that had grey hair... in the aged sense. The harsh reality is that this was an army of young men.

[Clark Badgett]

Re: Gray Hair?

Well the only problem with photos is that a very small percentage of the men were photographed. And they are all black and white. I mean if we were to just go by what we have seen in photographs we could assume that everyone was dark headed, and we all know that's way off the mark. I do agree that most of us are a bit older than most of the original soldiers, but there is really nothing we can do about that. Another thing that we may want to think about here, is they did have hair coloring then, Beauregard was famous for using it for as long as he could get it, and vanity is not limited to officers, especially when considering young men. Personal appearance meant a lot to folks back then, and they would do what they could to look good around others, especially in photographs that just may have been meant for Mom or Sweatheart.

One last thing, most regimental roles that I've looked at had anywhere from 10-20% over age 35. Yeah I know nowadays that is reversed.

[ElizabethClark]

Re: Gray Hair?

"... but there is nothing we can do about that."

Actually, there is. More men over the ages of actual participation for their unit can opt for a civilian role. That's accurate, and there are hundreds of opportunities for men over the age of young.

Young men do go grey and white and bald. So do young women. For a person who is otherwise youthful, some grey won't be a big problem, I think. For someone who looks a bit older than young, I agree with checking the unit rolls--find out who else was there your age, and opt for them. Of course, can't have fifteen guys "being" two men. LOL

[Mike Ventura]

Andrew Stebbins' posts

Aaron:

I agree with your comment regarding Andrew Stebbin's post above. Here is some background on Andrew from the cavalry discussion on this forum. It was posted by Katherine Coombs:

"A point of clarification -- Andrew is 12 years old and a great and enthusiastic kid who wants to develop a Mosby's Ranger's impression. I've been advising him to (1) start taking riding lessons now, so that when he's old enough to take the field, he'll be a skilled horseman and (2) join an authentic civilian unit and develop his general reenacting skills that way. At the better events, there's some unexplored scope for mounted civilians and that way he'd get into the authenticity mindset early on. (3) Then, if he can find a mounted cavalry unit in his area where he can be a groom, learn horse care, learn about period tack, etc etc that would be a grand idea."

Obviously, Andrew is a kid, has been in the hobby about a minute and likes to make his presenece known on the forum. He has been "gently" chastised more than once for his off the cuff comments. He does not subscribe to the adage that "children should be seen and not heard..." or, more specifically does not understand that at his tender age and experience that he should read and learn.

"It is better to be thought a fool than to open one's mouth and remove all doubt."

[HOG.EYE.MAN]

Re: Gray Hair?

Mike,

Thanks for sharing that info with me. I didn't realize Andrew was that young.

Happy New Year, and I hope to meet you at future WIG events in 2004.

Aaron

[Old Reb]

Re: Gray Hair?

My wooden nickles worth; My hair is gray. Heck, it is almost white! It started turning that color the first time a RPG whizzed past my head near Bon Song back in '69. I am proud that I have lived long enough for it to get that color and I will be darned if I dye it for some young whipper snapper to feel more authentic. I had two great great grandfathers who mustered into service in 1862. One was forty four, the other forty six. They probably had gray hair somewhere on their bodies, and if they didn't when they mustered in, they probably did when they mustered out. Of course, the majority of soldiers were much younger, but there were some old geezers around and for you that think that us old folks should retire to the bone yard, just come on down and make the march from Mansfield to Pleasant Hill with me this coming April. Heck, I might let you carry my musket!

[DougCooper]

Real life at war

A friend of mine has a son who is a young Marine officer who was in the thick of it during Iraqi Freedom. His company commander, a wise old Marine of about 30 turned completely gray from completely dark in the short time they were in combat. I am sure that was something that ocurred during the Civil War as well.

Was paging through the MOLLUS books the other day with many photos of vets that were taken just post war and was amazed at how many were going gray or were already there - with beards often first. I have had a gray and red beard since my early 30's, but my hair has held in there...ergo, I am doing the Barlow thing.

Was perusing the photo over on the other thread of the rebs giving the oath at Lookout - note how many are clean shaven.

[Dale Beasley]

Re: Gray Hair?

This is simple........leave your gray hair...........When I was a 1LT on Active Duty...the 2nd LTs. were calling me "Old Man" because my hair was turning gray......I may have been 24 - 25 years old. Gray hair is a "hereditary thing"
so dont worry about it......and besides......Don't associate gray hair with being old....I have seen it tooooo many times.... the ones with the gray hair are the ones who do their duty and finish the marches.......its all about attitiude.

p.s. Aaron....your funny