Views on women's hair changed little for thousands of years and culminated in the Victorian era. Ladies were expected to grow massive lengths of hair to show off their sexuality and it was deemed to be an extremely desirable trait among the upper class. Poor women could not afford to keep such long hair, so only wealthy women show it off. It was considered highly suggestive to wear your hair "loose" however, but the length gave them the ability to wear massive "up" hairstyles in public as well. It was considered sexually titillating to see a woman with long hair let loose, so images like this were actually considered on par with pin-up photographs. Only a husband or maid was allowed to see a women with her hair down. Two major terms we use to this day derive from these customs, "Letting your hair down" was an expression of the ability to relax around your husband when you could no longer be seen in public and "up tight" was a term for women who were anxious because their hair was pulled up in public and subjected to scrutiny of others. This is one of the best early pin-up style photographs of a woman with long hair we have ever seen and it dates to about the Civil War time period (c. 1862), way before showing skin was acceptable, making this like a playboy pin-up of the day! Stamped on the back by a Norwalk photographer and in pretty nice shape with wear to the corners.

Size: 2.5x4
Designation: CDV
Condition: 3/5
Quality: 5/5
Overall Grade: 8/10