Imagine, you are a woman working in a factory during the War. You are working on making munitions, and although you don't enjoy the work, you know it is necessary. It's dirty and dangerous work though, and every so often there is a tragedy in the factory, one of the munitions going off early or an accident with a machine. Just last week one of the women had her hair caught in one of the machines. She should have had it tied away, but she didn't. It just reinforced in your mind how important the hairnet you wear really is!
When I showed the children this hairnet, made of human hair, they found it quite bizarre. They of course know what a hairnet is, and have seen them plenty of times, but they always assumed that they were made of some synthetic material and indeed, today, most are. Interestingly, they found the idea of a hairnet woven from human hair very confronting. Most actually refused to touch the hairnet itself, though they had no problem with the paper envelope it came in. They also acknowledged that their disgust with the hairnet was quite bizzare, as they readily touch their friends hair, and frequently play with mine. Yet the idea of touching human hair which they didn't know where it originated from 'grossed them out'.
When most of us think of hairnets today we think of them being utilitarian, serving a specific function but not really worn as a fashion accessory. Most people therefore seem to assume that hairnets are a modern invention, but this is not the case. Hairnets have been around since at least the 11th century, being used to hold the hair in place while still allowing the hair to be seen and the air to move around the head. In fact, in the Middle Ages they were much more widely worn than they are today, being a normal clothing accessory for women, as opposed to a simple health and safety necessity. These early hairnets were also often quite beautiful.
Originally, hairnets were made of finely woven silk or crepe threads, with silk being used by rich ladies and crepe by everyday women. Sometimes jewels or even gold thread were also woven into the hairnet, making it a beautiful accessory rather than just a functional item. By the 14th century the threads used to weave the hairnets were stronger and wider, and the hairnet was a truly beautiful item, decorated with braids, ribbons, jewels, gems and beads. They held the hair in place while allowing the hair to also be seen and admired, instead of simply covering the hair or being made to blend and be invisible. Yet by the 20th century hairnets were plain and made of finely woven threads dyed to match the hair colour. Some were even made of real human hair, like the one I showed the children! They held curlers in place during the night, kept hair out of the way of dangerous machines and, more recently, keep food from being contaminated by fallen hairs.
