Hair

The participants in this pageant of hair all belong to one family; these are the Bond sisters, with their mother at far left. As their descendant H. Hart Nance, of Waco, Texas, explains, “When the second of James Bond’s eleven living children announced her intention to marry, around 1910, he arranged for a family portrait. Their mother, Elizabeth Ann, cautioned her daughters to dress in ‘going to church’ clothes. They adhered to her instructions as they had done all their lives, although the two who had walked to the photographer’s studio did appear slightly windblown. The photographer ushered the women into an anteroom to make any necessary repairs. When Bess, the bride-to-be, fourth from the left in this photo, reappeared, the family was shocked to see her hair hanging to her waist, while the other ladies were carefully coifed. Bess insisted that her future husband preferred to see her this way. The diplomatic photographer settled the impasse by persuading Bess to put her hair up for one dignified family portrait, and then he somehow talked the entire family into loosening their locks for this shaggy picture.”

We continue to ask our readers to send unusual and unpublished old photographs to Carla Davidson at American Heritage, Forbes Building, 60 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10011. Please send a copy of any irreplaceable materials, include return postage, and do not mail glass negatives. We will pay one hundred dollars for each one that is run.