Do a bit of Googling on celebrity collecting and you’ll quickly be told that “hair collecting” was a Victorian fad.

But it’s much older than that.

Humans have been holding on to bits of people they admire for almost as long as we’ve had recorded history.

And they probably did it before they started wring it down.

Every part of Marilyn Monroe's life fascinates her fans, and that includes her hair.

Graves, bodies and spirits

Almost without exception, religions promise a life after death.

Something beyond the physical holder of the spirit.

Whatever you make of that promise it’s one that billions upon billions of people have accepted. And built their lives around.

But while the spirit is gone, the physical body has also been a tangible memory of and a celebration of the life of someone who has gone.

If you go to a grave for any reason, you’re seeking physical proximity to human remains.

It’s just a way to remember.

A practice as old as humanity

Before many of the modern religions were founded, the Ancient Greeks were going to sanctuaries dedicated to great heroes.

And they weren’t just the nice buildings that are left today.

They contained relics. They might have been weapons or clothing, but they might also have included a body.

Sometimes warring kingdoms raided neighbours in order to make off with the remains of their heroes.

Religious relics

You’ve probably been to one of Britain’s great cathedrals.

Often complete with a saint’s Shrine.

And these traditionally contained the remains (or part of the remains) of the saint.

Saint David’s body has probably long been scattered to the wind.

His shrine was torn apart during the Reformation (it’s since been rebuilt, but without a body).

But before then, many thousands of people travelled to St David’s in remote, rainy West Wales to be close to his body. Medieval Welsh princes had it bought to them to swear oaths on.

Today, you can add vising (claimed) parts of the Buddha’s remains to your holiday plans.

There’s said to be a tooth in Sri Lanka.

Many Buddhist temples are built around a stupa - a place for storing physical relics - and the practice has continued and been practiced in France as recently as 1987.

Islam has also included the veneration of relics. There’s a large collection of physical relics in the Topkapi Palace in Istanbul.

In fact, Hinduism is said to stand out among major religions for not having a major physical relics culture, and that may be because cremation is so commonly used.

Secular relics for secular times

And as human society has moved to allow other political traditions to take centre stage, so the practice of taking and paying homage to physical relics of admired heroes has moved into more secular arenas.

Monarchs or political leaders attract this veneration.

When King Charles I was executed one cold January morning in Whitehall, onlookers rushed to the scaffold to dip their handkerchiefs in his blood.

Macabre stuff.

Even uncelebrated victims of judicial killing could be the subject of unsavoury celebrity worship, and their deaths might be accompanied by a scramble for physical relics.

Murder victims too.

Want to see parts of Abraham Lincoln’s body?

Go to the Army Medical Museum in Maryland.

The Victorian Hair Craze

As befits the age of the great hair craze, this Queen Victoria hair is beautifully preserved and presented. 

Hair has a commercial value whoever it belongs to.

If it’s of a certain type, and usually of a certain length, it can be used in wigs.

But the Victorians went well beyond that.

They do seem to have been fascinated by hair.

To a worrying extent.

Jewellery made from human hair was a big Victorian fad.

Victorian celebrities were often asked for a lock of hair rather than a signature.

(The next time you hear someone complaining about “modern celebrity culture” you might remind them how much of it is very old, often Victorian.)

Queen Victoria carried at least eight hairy relics of her late, much-loved husband, Prince Albert.

The modern age

And, so we enter a 20th century where hair has retained its hold on fandom.

Think of all the biggest names in modern entertainment - Marilyn Monroe, Elvis Presley, The Beatles for example - and you’ll find a physical relic cult.

Or hair collection if you prefer.

And why not?

Most collectibles rely for their value on physical proximity to an object of affection or worship.

Kurt Cobain’s guitars are mass-produced items. I could get you any number of very nice Fender Jaguars that are to all intents and purposes identical to what he played with Nirvana.

But that’s not the point is it.

It has to be The One that He played, He handled, He smashed.

Hair is unusual in that it is a human body part that we commonly remove.

There’s a good supply of it.

So, when 1960s tabloids raised their printed eyebrows at the sale of Beatle hair in their heyday, they should really have celebrated the continuation of a long tradition.

Beatles hair was a famous part of their image and a perfect collectible. This hair comes from John Lennon. Click through to read its story. 

How to collect hair

What should worry the modern hair collector?

Authenticity and preservation.

When it comes to authenticity you’re going to be relying on provenance.

That’s a chain of documented evidence linking your item to a person.

You should assess it in each case.

Where did the hair come from?

Who says it came from there?

And so on.

Hair should be stored carefully, in air-tight containers if you can, and out of extremes of temperature. It should be kept dry. 

Hair value

Once you have your hair you'll want to keep it safe because it might be - or may become - very valuable.

Here are some of the most valuable celebrity hair auction sales we can find. 

1: Che Guevara: $119,500

2: Elvis Presley: $115,000

3: Michael Jackson: $100,000

4: Edgar Allen Poe: $80,000

5: Lord Nelson: $70,000

6: Mozart: $53,520

7: John Lennon: $48,000

8: General JEB Stuart: $44,812

9: Justin Bieber: $44,000

10: Abraham Lincoln: $38,837

These are often very special cases. 

For example, Che Guevara's hair is one of those death relics. 

Michael Jackson's from the famous accident that saw his hair burned while filming a commercial. 

Justin Bieber's hair was from a famous cut that was said to mark his transition from child star to full grown man. 

Look for guarantees.

Like the ones we give.

You can see the celebrity hair we have here.

There are some amazing examples.

And, if you don’t want to buy right now, make sure you sign up for our free newsletter. Many of our best items are sold directly to clients who hear about them before we even get a chance to list them online. This way, you’ll never miss out again.

Some of our memorabilia is hair today, gone tomorrow.