I’d never heard of Circassians until I ran across information about these ladies and the beauty ideal that was attached to them during the 1800s. Back then, the Circassian women were played up to be beautiful, elegant, and desirable. They took on an almost erotic vibe in literature of the time and “Circassian” was often attached to the names of beauty products to make them more appealing. Their appeal may have started because of their presence in the sultan’s harem in the Ottoman Empire, in which they were seen as chaste and lovely.
P.T Barnum took advantage of this Circassian popularity by forming his “Circassian Beauties”. The women featured were usually American girls who’s hair had been soaked in beer and teased to stand up and out, dressed exotically, and given foreign sounding names.
The” Circassian Beauties”, also referred to as “Moss haired girls”, idea spread to sideshows and dime museums. Purported to be escaped sex slaves from harems, these “beauties” were often featured on postcards (kind of naughty ones for the time) and in actuality did not really resemble real Circassian women.
The bushy hair was also not typical. Although the clothing styles varied for the women in these exhibits, the hair was almost always the same. They were dressed the very opposite of the modest Circassian women, in the styles that would appear most exotic and alluring to Americans.
However, it makes for a heck of an interesting history lesson. Wow! So I searched and searched for a reason that afros would be included in the apperance of these exotic ladies. I’d always thought long, flowing hair was the ideal for America since the get-go. I can see changing the clothing to more revealing items, but I would’ve never guessed the hair.
So how many of you ladies are going to run out and add some beer to your deep conditioner for that ultimate fro? Fess up!! 
Resources:
Secrets of the sideshows By Joe Nickell
Freakery By Rosemarie Garland Thomson
Thanks for reading! Remember that our hair is a gift and that it can blossom and grow if we take good care of it. If you have questions, want to share your story, or just want to say hi, please email me at kcurly@newlynatural.com
{ 12 comments… read them below or add one }
perhaps they secretly admired the hair of the slaves that were brought to America?
Hmm, now that’s a thought NappySince10/01/08.
Great post, KCurly!!
you know, part of me wants to take that back… i cant stop revisiting this. this is such a great post. i really wish i remembered the source but a couple years back (and i almost forgot about this the first time around, of me commenting), i read sort of a “list” of different groups of ppl/ethnicities who have “our” type of hair. It was interesting and a guess it was a way to cease the idea of only ppl of African descent having this unique hair. One of the places was in Russia and there was a pic of a beautiful young woman with pale skin, blue eyes, and ‘wooly’ blonde hair. I now want to learn more b/c of this post and still wonder why the media still wants to hide ppl like this… i need to find that read again, or maybe it was a video? *kicking myself right now* sorry so long
Interesting – great info
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Nappysince10, your description of that article tickles something in my mind, time for me to do some more research
You are always enlightening with your blog! I know that I will always come here and learn something new! This was great!
The Circassians, who call themselves “Adyghe” and who are NOT a Turkic people (being related to the Ubykhs and Abkhazians), are indigenous to the Northwest Caucasus region. For more information see this web site: http://www.circassianworld.com
An excerpt from Charles King’s ‘Imagining Circassia: David Urquhart and the Making of North Caucasus Nationalism.’
Semen Bronevskii, an important Russian popularizer of Caucasus ethnography in the 1820s, claimed that the Circassian woman was renowned from the earliest times and that such praise was fully deserved. Her dark eyes and dark-brown hair, elongated but not aquiline
nose, and small mouth combined to give her “the lineaments of the face of the ancient Greek, mixed with the light shade of the Roman.” If added to this were “a full, high bosom, a graceful figure, and slender legs, then you will have a general picture of the dimensions of the face and physique of the Circassian beauty.
… strategic, exotic, and erotic—”Circassia” was something of a household word in many parts of Europe and even North America in the early decades of the nineteenth century. Hair oils, soaps, skin creams, and other cosmetic and hygienic products were arketed in Europe and America under the “Circassian” label.
Actually this label is still living. see http://www.circassia.co.uk
And interesting on Circassian medicine
http://www.circassianworld.com/Circassian_Medicine.html
I just saw an opera piece and wanted to see what a circassian looked like. Seen several now.
As for caucasians with “wooly hair”, even the egyptians mentioned them. I found the mention in an 1800’s book on Egyptology. You should see my cousin’s hair, (now she’s half irish/celtic and half german jewish). The hair comes from the german jewish side. Very curly and wild if not ironed. We once were questioned coming back from Mexico, because it was so different from my aunt’s and my fine, lank, hair.
What a wonderful post!
Nappy Since…brought up a great point.
If I may add, caucasian people as a whole have always wanted what we have. They have tricked us in to believing that we are inferior…this was one of the reasons for slavery besides economics. Yet we have always been assets for possession purposes~
If we took a close look at what is popular in music(rhythm and blues), fashion(bohemian resurgence), and body types(coke bottle shapes)…it’d be clear to see who they are aiming towards(tanning spa’s, botox, full hair).
Please don’t allow their voiced negative opinions and actions since the beginning of civilization cloud your vision.
We are kings and queens, they know it and have been trying to pull the wool over our eyes~
kcurly, thank you for your beautiful information, i was searching for hair cuts as my hair is boring me since going natural in july ‘06, now I’m simply going to wear it blown out for awhile and simply have my ends trimmed!!!! I love me and my hair…
now if only this blond would go away!!!
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excuse me,
…since their wanting to rule, since civilization was improper.
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Circassians are very beautiful and there are still many in the U.S. and all over the world. There’s a Circassian girl who writes for the Examiner in Anaheim. http://www.examiner.com/x-6031-Anaheim-Community-Events-Examiner
Circassian Hair Conditioning Tip ***Olive oil is a great way to soften your hair, curls and frizz. Saturate hair with olive oil for 1-4 hours (the time more the softer) Rinse thoroughly. Enjoy!!
Great article!!