Hair has long been a human fascination. From religions stressing the importance of not cutting it or hiding it, to a new mother’s desire to clip her baby’s first curls and save them for life, hair has a very significant role in both our metaphysical and tangible lives.
In our interview with Kerry Howley, a UK artist who uses human hair to make necklaces, once our hair is not longer on our heads – we tend to find it disgusting. It clogs our drains, it hides in our food, it sticks to our clothes – basically, it’s a pain when not attached to our heads.
Yet despite our fear and loathing of stray strands of hair, these little buggers sure are making quite a bit of cash!
Celebrity Hair on eBay
Back in March, headlines across the country were buzzing about Justin Bieber’s clipped hair which sold for more than $40,000 on eBay. Sound more like a year’s salary to you than a reasonable about of money to pay for hair? Don’t worry – at least the money went to charity.
But the celebrity hair trend on eBay is not over yet! Strands of both Paul McCartney and George Harrison’s hair are being auctioned off over the next three days with benefits going towards funding the Freda Kelly documentary titled, “Good ‘Ol Freda.”
Kelly authenticated both of the men’s hair in the 1960s when she was the Beatles Fan Club Secretary. The strands have been in the possession of the fan club since that time.
“I kept getting letters from fans asking about bits of hair, shirts, ties, etc.” Freda explains. “In the end, I rang hairdressers that they went to, the Horne Brothers, and asked if he could help me. He would telephone me when they were in and I would then go along from the office, which was either in Whitechapel or Moorfields and literally brush up hair as he was cutting it, put in an envelope and send these to fans.”
Hair for a Good Cause
With three days to go on the auction, the Beatles’ hair is now selling for $255 each, which is only expected to grow over the coming days. For the documentary funding, this is great news.
“The organizers of the campaign to raise money to fund a movie about Beatles fan club secretary Freda Kelly announced to backers on Friday that they were almost 2/3 of the way to their goal,” reported BeatlesExaminer.com. “As of Friday night, they said they had 349 backers who have pledged $36,094 from their goal of $50,000, leaving just under $14,000 to go to make their goal.”
The organizers have until 2:59 A.M. EST on Nov. 12 to raise the entire amount of funding necessary – and the auctioning off of hair from Beatles members in their prime is aiding in that effort.
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Final Thoughts
I’m not sure if a charitable auctioning off of hair somehow makes it less disgusting, but I am happy to see people using stray hair in positive ways. After all the time we spend pampering it and caring for it, it does seem a shame that we gag at the mere presence of our hair when it’s unattached from our scalp.
