"Pigtails"

When I was little I had short blond hair. You can see that in the 1942 photo even though I am wearing a hat. Somewhere along the line, my hair got to be brown with auburn highlights. It must have been after the California trip that I started growing my hair longer. That is when the "pigtails" came into being. My mother would part my hair down the middle and again down to my ear. Then she would braid the front part. When she got to the ear she would divide the rest of the hair in half, using the front braid for the third part of the braid. My hair is thick so the braid was thick, too. In the summertime, I could take the "pigtail" and tuck it under the first part of the braid so I didn't have hair hanging on my neck.

Some of my classmates also wore "pigtails" but they often got to wear their hair down on their shoulders. I would beg and beg to wear mine down. Once in a great while my mother would let me got to school with my hair down.

Of course, there were those days when whatever boy sat behind me in class would pull my "pigtails" and upset me.

I think I must have worn "pigtails" until I was about eleven. Finally, Mom let me get my hair cut - and I still have the end of one of those braids in a Creative Memories photo album.