It’s time for the powder room ....

Ever thought where the term came from ... I used to see it when I visited golf clubs, posh hotels, Harrods – the 1p slots were beyond! – none of which in our youth we frequented often.  But Powder Room – seemed to imply powdering faces, powdering our noses ...  and I suppose that’s why it stuck ...

A very modern powder room

Going round Bateman’s (Kipling’s house) recently and having the Powder Room pointed out – a small room off Kipling’s bedroom – it was clarified as the wig powdering room ... I thought oh ok = interesting fact.

Then I read an article about a Queen Anne house that had been restored in the east end of London, together with other houses in the terrace.  Here again – the powder room off the landing was highlighted.

The Kiplings' powder
room off their bedroom,
now full of display items

Now it made sense ... wig powdering, Queen Anne (reigned 1702 – 1714) and Bateman’s built in 1634 – even a farm house in the Sussex countryside needed a wig powdering room:  well if you can get your head round the fact that wig powdering was a necessity in the country as well.

After the fall of the Roman Empire the use of wigs fell into abeyance in the West until they were revived in the 16^th century as a means for compensating for hair loss or improving one’s personal appearance.

There were also the practical reasons to use a hair piece: head lice jumping around and the unhygienic conditions of the times ... having one’s head shaved and then using a wig, which could easily be removed and cleaned, made a great deal of sense.

Elizabeth 1 - her Armada portrait (1588)

Well now I’m not sure about that ... Samuel Pepys recorded the day in 1663 that he was at the Swan pub by the river in Chelsea and sent for his periwig-maker to bring his periwig; but it was full of nits ... so he sent the old boy away to make it clean.

Royal patronage was crucial to the revival of the wig – Queen Elizabeth 1 reigned from 1558 – 1603 and wore a red wig, elaborately curled tight in a “Roman” style.

But wig wearing really came into its own in the 17^th century – King Louis of France (1601 – 1643) started to pioneer wig-wearing in 1624 when he had prematurely begun to lose his hair. 

Queen Anne - who didn't look
like she needed a wig (1705)

Women followed on in the 1700s – usually only adding to their own hair – with supplemental hair-pieces – or lightly dusting and colouring their hair – rather than the full wigs worn by the men.

However it became de-rigueur with Louis’ son and successor King Louis XlV (1638 – 1715) from where it spread to the rest of Europe – here in England Charles II, on his restoration in 1660, brought the style back with him from his exile in France.

It’s interesting to consider Bateman’s building’s date of 1634 with these timings ... Kipling’s house was off the beaten track – he had a new lane built down to make the house more easily accessible.

Queen Anne terrace in Kew, SW London

I’d better stick to my theme of powder room ... wig powder was made from finely ground starch that was scented with orange flower, lavender or orris root.  It could be coloured violet, blue, pink or yellow, but most often was used as off-white.

Wigs were made from human hair (expensive), horsehair, cows’ tail hair and even linen and silk threads sewn into a cloth cap ... the oils from the wearer’s head tended to soak into the wig’s material.  However talcum powder would absorb these oils.

Puffing the powder, using
powder bellows - no sign of
face protection here

A wig had to be powdered while it was being worn to keep the powder in situ atop the head ... hence the powder room – when a cover cloth would be used to protect the clothes ... but the face – breathing in all that powder wouldn’t do anyone any good.

The wearer would place their face in a paper cone to avoid breathing in any of the powder.  A family member or servant would take a cloth bag filled with crushed talc and shake it vigorously over the wig – where it would stick to the oily/greasy hair. 

Powder bellows became popular in the 18th century, but powder puffing was more genteel.

Example of powder bellows

The powder room doubled as an early washroom before water was piped around the house ... certainly the two I’ve seen recently were relatively small in size.

In 1795, the British government ever keen on raising money ... taxed hair powder – levying one guinea per year!  That put the kibosh on the fashion for wigs and powder.

A Hundertwasser designed toilet in Kawakawa,
New Zealand - couldn't resist this photo

The Duty on Hair Powder Act 1795 was repealed in 1869 – so it didn’t last very long ... the Act stated that anyone wishing to use hair powder must visit a stamp office and register ... in 1812 46, 684 people paid the tax, by 1855 only 917 did ...

Wigs have continued on in many guises ... while powder rooms have evolved out of private houses to be only found in public places for ladies’ use ... where plumbing is now to be found.

The Austrian artist
Friedensreich Hundertwasser
(1928 - 2000) see Wiki
he looked interesting

It’s interesting how the names/phrases keep on – powder rooms, powder puff – powder our noses - even if the government taxed the fashion to its death ...

The Kiplings’ House – Bateman’s ... my recent posts:

Putting the House to Bed part 1 (the background)

Puttingthe House to Bed part 2 (managing wear and tear)

Fascinating what we can find – I was very surprised to find the Duty on Hair Powder link ... Ask.com

I did write a post a year ago on toilets and using the pan - different turns of phrases ... see here.

Hilary Melton-Butcher

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