Featured Mantilla hair comb

Not exactly jewelry, but I wasn't quite sure where to post it!

So a few years ago, a woman gave me this comb (she thought of me because I have very long hair hahaha) , said it had just been sitting in a drawer for years ( she had short hair). I'm not sure how old it is, she was in her seventies I think and probably acquired it a long time ago. She told me she thought it was real tortoise shell. It just looks so plastic-y to my eye, but I've never handled anything made from tortoise shell. Does anyone know if it has a plastic-y feel to it or how to tell it apart from faux tortoise shell?

And a more rhetorical question- how the heck can I pull off wearing this? I want to so bad because it's so cool, but it doesn't blend in with modern fashion the way most old jewelry does- every time I put it on it looks like I'm wearing a costume!

 

maybe you need vintage hairstyle to wear vintage hair comb...?

 

If only I had the guts to go out with my hair styled like that!

I found this funny old caricature making fun this style of comb

 

I have had several tortoiseshell bracelet and hair comb items pass through my hands over the years, and I do agree that it looks more like plastic than tortoiseshell.

Do you see any seams on it that might indicate that it's molded plastic?

I'd personally slip it on over a pony tail so that the majority of the comb covers the ponytail holder and the bottom part of the comb slips into your hair underneath, but I'm not sure how many people could pull that off...I have very fine hair and the teeth of the comb at the bottom would surely stick out underneath the ponytail. I guess it depends on how thick your hair is.

 

I couldn't find any seems, there is a chipped corner, and underneath the chip there is an area with fine lines beneath the surface (making it look brittle) maybe this is what old plastic looks like?

Hey thanks for the suggestion- I'd been trying to stick it in there without a ponytail holder, looks much more plausible this way (I pinned the ponytail end up)

 

ok so I have a handle on how to wear it literally ... now how to wear it without looking so.... eccentric
Unfortunately I think this is one that will continue to stay tucked away in a drawer mostly!

 

If it's that old, it might be celluloid. Celluloid is an old plastic they started making in the Victorian era.

 

To misquote Shakespeare, "Vanity, thy name is woman. "

 

You can try hot water or rubbing to get enough heat - if tortoise it'll smell like hair.

If celluloid it should smell like camphor/Vick's Vapor Rub/mothballs.

I don't know what temp, but Def not anywhere near boiling. Someone else may know?

I put my friend's deeply carved caramel Bakelite bangle in water that was too hot - all the carving instantly turned white/powdery. It happened so fast! I I felt just awful (stupid!)

I was able to polish it out with silver polish, thankfully...

 

Lovely elegant comb, Kimbert. This one is not a mantilla comb or peineta, but a 'regular' fashion item, ca 1890-1900.

It looks like molded celluloid to me, also where the chip is. Most old decorative combs are celluloid or other plastics. Some are carved celluloid or natural materials, and some are (precious) metal.

If yours is a natural material it is more likely to be stained horn that tortoiseshell. Stained horn will also smell of hair in the hot water test scouts explained.
If it is carved rather than molded, you'll see some irregular serrated edges where it was carved, like in this picture of a carved celluloid comb:


One easy way of telling if something is tortoiseshell is to look if the dark spots are layered. If a spot is seen in lower layers as well as the outside, it is tortoiseshell. If not, it is stained horn or celluloid, usually the latter.

I have a collection of decorative combs and wear mine on special occasions. Nowadays I wear my hair in a bun if I do, it is the easiest way for me.
In Spain I was taught a way to wear a comb without actually putting your hair up. I used to do that when I was younger, and it works.
I hope the following explanation works, it is easier to explain in person, when you can demonstrate it:

1. Divide your hair in two, with a parting from ear to ear. The back part will remain loose.

2. Divide the front of the hair in three, top and two sides. Use clasps to hold the locks in place while you are doing the other locks of hair.

3. Bring the lock of hair on the right side to the back, over the loose hair at the back, and secure with bobbypins just left of the centre of the back of your head. Use those bobbypins with a textured surface, those don't slide out easily.

4. Bring the lock on the left side to the back, over the hair you just secured, and secure with bobbypins just right of the centre of the back of your head, overlapping the other bobbypins. It is best if the overlap including bobbypins is about the size of the width of the teeth of your comb. Give or take, it is not an exact science.

5. Brush the top hair back over the two overlapping locks so the bobbypins are completely covered.

6. Push the comb in the loose top hair, making sure it is behind the two overlapping locks and the bobbypins.

The bobbypins are the clue, and they make sure the whole thing doesn't fall apart. The comb should feel like it fits snugly behind the locks of hair and the bobbypins, and won't come out when you shake your head.

Here are threads with some of my hair jewellery:

https://www.antiquers.com/threads/s...rative-comb-mystery-origin.25865/#post-347016

https://www.antiquers.com/threads/h...s-on-hair-ornaments-please.17758/#post-243181

 

Celluloid, I'd say.

 

Ooh! What a lovely comb
And you are lucky to have very long hair
I used to have mine long when younger, and wore some of my antique combs on the side of my bun (always checking they weren't about to fall), along with jeans and T-shirt
When I opted for really short hair cut, I displayed my collection pinned with thin nails to my bedroom wall (sorry, no pics of that)
Yours is too beautiful to sit in a drawer!
If you have a cabinet it could stand vertically at back of a shelf (add some putty to the end of prongs to secure it!)
Agree wit old celluloid rather than turtle shell.

You know what...(someone will say "oh no! She did it again!") to test for plastic, taste it
Shell will feel on your tongue as a nude finger nail, when plastic should give the same feeling/taste as a varnished nail

 

Yep!

 

the now famous TTITI test...
"To Test It Taste It"...

 

@scoutshouse I dipped the ends in some hot water (not too hot) and definitely had a faint vick's smell, nothing like hair! Sounds like celluloid it is!

@Any Jewelry thanks for all that info. All things point to celluloid! Also thank you for the detailed hairdo instructions, I'll be giving it a try!
I loved your threads about your hair ornaments- the one with the silver plaque is so unusual!!

@kyratango you're right it is so lovely I should at least display it! I have this weird notion that daylight might dry it out and make it more brittle? I have no idea where I got that notion though but that's what prompted me to tuck it away when not in use (which is basically always haha) but it such a shame! I will try to find a nice display spot for it!
and as to the TTITI test- I did it, and definite varnished finger nail right here!



just for fun: Tada! my best efforts to date:

 

Gorgeous! It even matches the colour of your hair.

The most important thing for celluloid is that it should breathe. Here is some info on celluloid care:
https://www.thesprucecrafts.com/what-to-know-about-celluloid-149074
https://vintage-celluloid-collectibles.com/care-of-celluloid

 

thank you, that is useful info! Wonder if I should try soaking it is baking soda and water as the second link you shared says can be done. Baking soda is so harsh, the idea makes me nervous! my comb does have brittle looking spots and chips though so maybe that's a sign of this "celluloid rot" starting to happen! I hope not! I will be letting it breathe from now on though- I had it sitting in a little bubble wrap pouch, that's probably a horrible thing for breathability! Good to know!

 

It looks wonderful on you!!!!

 

@Kimbert the comb looks outstanding! It'd be hard to make it work without your thick, full hair!

Great cartoon

 

The chip you photographed just looks like old age, not "celluloid disease". Once that sets in there's no saving it. The whole thing just crumbles. That happens a lot when celluloid gets too hot, or sometimes just at random. I once bought a purse that was partially celluloid, threw it in my trunk (in April in CT mind) and it got too warm. By the time I got home, I smelled vinegar and the purse started collapsing on itself the next day.