Let Your Hair Down at Leila’s Hair Museum

Hair art was a form of art that began roughly in the 16th century and flourished in the Victorian era. It was used by people who wanted to keep a memento of a loved one before the invention of photography. Necklaces, rings, lockets, other ornaments and paintings were embellished with hair.

Leila Cohoon was a cosmetologist teacher living in Independence, Missouri. A known friend of Ronald Reagan, she started collecting hair since 1956 and considered it her life’s work. The museum houses more than 2,000 pieces of jewelry and around 600 wreaths which include locks of hair from the 19th century and earlier. Famous people’s hair are also represented such as George Washington, Abe Lincoln, Queen Victoria, Elvis Presley, and Michael Jackson, to name a few.