Aromatic Fact for the Day: Bring Back the Antimacassar!!
No, it's not an eye make up remover.
The antimacassar was a trendy piece of textile furnishing, for protecting the backs of chairs where the head rests.
In Victorian and Edwardian times, there was a strong trend for oiled hair. "Macassar oil" was the application of choice in these pre-shampoo days, an unguent formula made from oils such as coconut, and aromatics such as ylang ylang (cananga odorata, the pungent flower from a small Malaysian tree, and an original component of Chanel Number 5). Byron, the hot young dandy of the day, described Macassar oil as "thine incomparable oil".
Macassar oil was even sold as a trichological solution for baldness, greying hair, "scurf", "dandriff", and to "prevent the waste of those natural substances so essential to the preservation of the Hair." (sic, sic sic).
A well oiled head is prone to slipping against the back of its comfortable leather armchair, and the "antimacassar" was a practical solution, which came to be a growing trend in its own right.
Today we see very bland tissue-y antimacassars on airline seats; this is a far cry from the ornamental crocheted miniature works of art that adorned parlors in the time of the well-groomed Edwardian male.
The launch of dollop TM all-natural hair styling pomade (while not an oil, so far less greasy) could advent the return of decorative antimacassars, eye-catching textile furnishings that are easy to craft, for any high backed chair, from the Boardroom to the club, to the modern living room.
That's right folks... the return of the head rest doily.
