There's nothing gruesome about collecting human hair. Visitors who come to my museum in Independence, Missouri, often think the exhibits are cut from dead people but they were mostly very much alive. The tradition dates back hundreds of years, to a time when giving a keepsake of human hair was a token of love. It's true that some pieces were also an act of remembrance for a family member who had passed away but it was always done for a loving reason.
I started working with hair in 1949 as a trainee hairdresser. I loved being in a beauty salon and knew immediately that it was right for me, although I had no idea then where it would lead me. In 1956, just after I married my husband Don, I walked into an antique shop in Kansas City and spotted a tiny wreath of human hair, set in a gold frame. I was mesmerised and wanted it immediately. I had $35 saved to buy some new Easter shoes and I spent the lot on this 6in sq piece of art. Don says it cost a lot more because I have spent so much developing my collection since.
I opened my own Lady Marceline Beauty Salon that same year and put the frame of hair next to the mirror. A few months later, I was cutting a woman's hair and she just happened to spot it. She said she had a hair wreath for sale in her antique shop, so I bought that one as well. From that point on, I went searching for new pieces.