Once again we time travel to an earlier age, before products had been invented for people to buy. Here, courtesy of the redoubtable Mrs Beetroot and her infinitesimal knowledge of how to do almost anything, we confront the awful possibilities heaped upon the lady’s maid. This ignorant, snivelling teenager, with less knowledge than Mrs Beetroot herself, yet additionally possessing dubious reading skills, is expected to glean from the following information enough assistance to make a lady presentable for all occasions. We should perhaps be grateful that the surviving photographs are sepia, and blurred.
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Cleansing of the hair: advice for the lady’s maid.
This is a necessary task best tackled during finer weather. Many ladies are known to have caught consumption as a result of embroidering in damp rooms over the winter, such extra work as a consumptive mistress can occasion, is too great a burden for a lady’s maid in a small household who may already be charged with the care of up to eight bedrooms, a parlour, a withdrawing room, a billiard room, the best room, the servant’s parlour and dining room and ten or more bedrooms for the in-house servants over the stables or in the attics.
Therefore the lady’s maid is not advised to undertake the cleansing of the hair of her mistress until March at the earliest.
Mode: Ready the lady’s chamber by spreading the horse hair carpet protector and placing thereupon the dressing stand, a jug of warm water from the copper, a bone dressing comb, a firm bone louse comb, a badger hair paddle brush and a jar of Turkey pomade simply made by beating together Macassar oil, anis seeds, ammonia and a speck of oil of tincture of laudanum ground in a pestle with a pinch of attar of arsenic, the whole pounded to a paste and kept in a strong pot jar sealed with an inch of melted beeswax. For the finishing dressing a small pot of castor oil mixed with equal parts of whale oil and fragranced with a few rose petals, pounded in a pestle may be used. For the first washing a good pint of soft well water that has had a handful of bran boiled into it with a teaspoonful of soft green soap may be used together with a paste made of grated nutmeg and left-over breadcrumbs pounded, in a pestle, with an inch cube of lamp black, for a darker haired lady or a small rind of lemon for a lighter haired lady.
Seat the lady, arranging her skirts close to the feet of the chair and ensuring that her head can be raised above decorative carving on the chair back. If not, balance her upon cushions. Cover the lady, her dress and the chair in the protective oilcloth dressing cover spread over with a clean calico cloth kept for the purpose. Arrange the gutters to encircle the lady but leaving sufficient room for the housemaid to walk between the dressing stand and the lady.
Remove from the lady’s head all hats, hair combs, plaster fruit, ribbons, diamonds, grips and flounces and undo any plaits, bunches or fanned windings and associated fastenings. Set aside.
Comb the hair vigorously with the paddle brush until the brush is able to penetrate the hair in every part. If the hair is very long it may be necessary to raise the lady so that the full length of the hair can be brushed and all traces of twigs or leaves removed from the hair. Upon the hair being penetrable with a brush the exercise should be repeated with the louse comb until the maid is satisfied that every trace of living insects, eggs and any other creature has been removed. Wrap the comb in laurel leaves and replace in the comb box.
Break three eggs into the hair of the lady and massage the scalp, hair and all for half an hour. Over the lady pour half of the bran water, ensuring that it is not so hot as to cook the eggs. Take up and empty the chair gutters into a jug. Spread the paste of nutmeg and breadcrumb upon the hair, working it well into the root, paying particular attention to this in a lady with thinning hair. For a lady with hairless portions, a small amount of fine brandy run upon the scalp will prove beneficial.
Rinse the hair with the remaining well water leaving as little of the bran in the hair as possible. Rub the hair quickly with a soft cloth and work the Turkey pomade through it with the palm of the hand.
Lift the hair from the face of the lady. If she is sensible, remove and empty the gutters before proceeding to the final dressing. For this simply apply the castor oil, section the hair and take it behind the ears, crossing on top of the head. Arrange the hair in waves fastened with combs to shoulder length then curl round a curling brush into ringlets, tying with the ringlet cloths, finishing each cloth neatly with a small bow, ensuring that the ends do not obscure the dress fastenings, thus causing more work at the day’s end. Press an oiled rose petal into each ringlet end, subsequently dusting and replacing all hair decorations, ornamental birds, lace caps and a hat, if worn.
Dressed in this fashion the hair should keep good for several weeks, substituting the hat for a tiara on more formal occasions.
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JaneLaverick.com – slightly lovely things from long ago.