Long Hair

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31111, 14 July 1966, Page 14

Long Hair

Sir, —In my reference books Pythagoras is represented with extensive curly locks; Plato and Sopchocles appear as distinctly shaggy; Justinian has pretty curls; Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci are shown with abundant hair and beard; Knox flaunts a magnificently copious beard, Calvin a trimmed beard; Erasmus and Luther have thick hair descending well down the neck. Lavoisier, the father of modern chemistry, had a pigtail, Pasteur a beard and moustache, Darwin hair all over his face. Ampere splendid curly locks, Rutherford a huge moustache, and Einstein long soft hair. If Jesus wore his hair short back and sides it is odd that religious pictures have so often depicted him otherwise. In my library I have considerable evidence for the length of Christ's hair, and if “Barbarossa" is genuinely Interested I shall be happy to let him see it. — Yours, etc., JOHN L. MOFFAT. July 12 1966.

Sir, —Your Saturday article shed some new light on the subject of long hair. Most of us older ones tend to insist religiously on the observance of all the things that we learnt to regard as distinguishing the two sexes. However, as your correspondent, “Not Superficial,” implies, it may be a healthy thing (rightly regarded) to see long, shining, clean hair on young people on both sides of the “fence.” Commercialism keeps this fence artificially high. Once I heard a barber remark scathingly about a young’ man, “Oh, yes, he wears clips, but he doesn’t ride a bicycle!” Yet, on a desert island, hair clips would be an asset to anybody, hair cream not being available.—Yours, etc., FESTINA LENTE. July 12, 1966.