Posted by Alex Forbes on September 23, 2006 at 04:11:15 from 4.242.120.245 user Pitsligo.
In Reply to: Re: Girls' Hairstyles posted by David Bamford on September 21, 2006 at 07:36:15:
I don't mean to be nit-picky, but just to add some fine details to your description of sailors' queues:
Yes, their queues were braided, but in a four-strand braid not three-strand; the four strand is a round braid instead of a flat braid.
Also, the hair itself was not tarred, but the braid was first covered in a pickled eel skin (or so says Clifford Ashley), rolled up over the braided hair like a stocking over a leg, tied neatly in place at the nape, and the excess eel skin trimmed off. The round four-strand braid apparently creates a very neat package under the eel skin.
Only then was it covered with a coating of good Stockholm tar. This produces a very trim appearance --or so I've been led to believe-- and still allows for the hair to later be removed from this casing and re-braided. If you've ever had to get Stockholm tar out of your hair, even a little bit, you'll know why the eel skin was important.
I have very long hair --down to my belt before I braid it-- and have a wonderful wife who puts it into a four-strand braid for me. No luck finding pickled eel skins, as yet, but I'm still looking. If anyone here knows of a source, please let me know.
Alex