Crowning Glory. A Poem about girls and the way their hair and hairstyle change during life.

Baby-fine down,

Sweet locket curls,

Yellow scaled scalp,

Cradle capped girls.

Long plaits, bunches,

Ribbons, bright bows,

Tangled, knotted,

Brushed and headsore.

Bouffant, beehive,

Back combed, lacquered,

Rollered all night,

No sleep, knackered.

Flowing and fringed,

Fine fly away,

Frequently washed,

Grease kept at bay.

Frizzy afro,

Permed twice a year,

Wide toothed combs,

Split ends appear.

Neat elegance,

Silvery threads,

Signs of old age,

Each woman dreads.

Wiry and coarse,

Pepper- salt grey,

Goes where it wants,

Gets its own way.

Hair now thinner,

Scalp starts to show,

Bare patches combed over,

Locks lose their glow.

Lots of babies get yellow cradle cap. With my own children I remember using Vaseline to soften it and then I gently combed it out. There are special products available now. It usually disappears by the age of two.

Does anyone remember ringlets? Mum tore one inch strips off an old sheet and then wound our hair round the fabric. Next day we had lovely curls.

Plaits are great - there are so many different styles - one plait, two plaits, french plaits and more. Plaits make hair look tidy but they are also good for preventing head lice infestations. My grandchildren have to have long hair tied up for school but the minute they are off the school premises the bobbles and ribbons are pulled out!

It was in the late fifties and sixties that hair became much bigger. We would back comb our hair and then smooth the top layer over before finishing off with a spray. At first we didn't have hairspay and had to make our own. We dissolved sugar in water then put it into a spray bottle. We had to put lots of spray on if we were to keep the bouffant effect. As time went on hairspray was developed and we could buy it ready made. One big snag with the sugar solution was that wasps were attracted to the sugar!

Perms and big specs. Everyone had perms and used wide toothed combs to get through the hair. At that time spectacles were big, see photo.

Grey hairs creep up on us and sometimes girls start to go grey at quite a young age. However there are lots of hair products which can hide greyhair. It must be said that very dark hair which goes grey or white does not look good if it is dyed dark. It seems too harsh for the person and a softer, lighter brown looks much better.