Now arises Mrs. Lydia McPherson of Los Angeles, California… Her friends claim that if Lady Godiva had possessed hair like Mrs. McPherson, she would have been more than adequately attired in her famous ride through the streets of Coventry. Mrs. McPherson surpasses Mother Eve, by wearing, as her picture shows, only nature’s covering, whereas the world’s first lady had to borrow from the fig tree. The tresses of Mrs. McPherson measure seven feet two inches from root to tip, and are of a find, bright red color. San Francisco Examiner - Jun 26, 1927
(left) In her birthday suit; (right) fully clothed
Below: Looking a bit like that girl from The Ring movie.
St. Louis Post Dispatch - Apr 24, 1927
The Ring girl, for comparison:
Some more images of Lydia McPherson and her long hair:
(left) at the 1933 Chicago Odditorium, where she was advertised as having "the longest red hair in the world" (via pbs.org); (right) undated photo (via sisterwolf).
Has this fellow decided to masochistically shame himself by creating this pitchfork doppelganger? Or did the local bad boys construct it and leave it on his lawn, and he is now gazing at it ruefully, realizing the veracity of their taunt? Or thinking, "There, but for the grace of Vitalis, go I."
Wikipedia says: "Bear's grease was a popular treatment for men with hair loss from at least as early as 1653 until about the First World War." They obviously know nothing about Canadian Kelly Chamandy, who was still peddling the stuff in the 50s.
When he finally came home for good at the end of the war, Kelly Chamandy was bald as an egg. Taking the advice of his Cree friends, he began massaging rendered bear fat into his scalp and, lo and behold, his hair began to grow back! The state of his pate, his Syrian peddler heritage, and his wilderness experience gave him a brilliant idea which led to his entrance into an ancient, unconventional, and all-but-forgotten industry: the bear grease market.
Artist Jarrett Key paints with his hair. When I first saw the story about him in the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer, I thought that must mean he had cut some of his hair off and made a brush out of it. But no. He uses his hair as a brush while it's still attached to his head.
Key says his inspiration came from his dead grandmother who appeared to him in a dream and said, "Your hair is your strength. Paint with your hair."
Key probably doesn't realize this, but he was actually anticipated in this technique by comedian Pat Paulsen who, back in 1966, before he became famous on the The Smothers Brothers' show, made headlines by claiming to be an artist who used his head as a paintbrush. Paulsen called it 'Cranial Painting.'
He briefly terrorized the housewives of Charleston in the Summer of 1969:
Police files show the man frequently tells women in a door-to-door campaign that he is opening a new beauty salon. He offers the lady of the house a sampling of his work. Those who agree have wound up bald.
Back in 1951, young kids, inspired by the science-fiction TV series Space Patrol, started giving themselves the prematurely bald look, aka the "Space Patrol haircut."
"Teddy Hoff, 9, Hollywood schoolboy... wears a 'space patrol' haircut, a new fad of the vast and growing legion of juvenile TV space drama fans." (image source)
Test-marketed in 1979 and soon abandoned. I think the decision to promote it alongside yogurt makers and yogurt cookbooks couldn't have helped, because it made you wonder, am I supposed to eat it or put it in my hair?
Paul Di Filippo
Paul has been paid to put weird ideas into fictional form for over thirty years, in his career as a noted science fiction writer. He has recently begun blogging on many curious topics with three fellow writers at The Inferior 4+1.