Reflections On Being A Redhead

Every once in a while redheads make the news. A recent article caused me to reflect on my life as a redhead. 

My father William and his two brothers, Richard and David, were redheads. Their father, Caryl, and one of his two brothers had red hair. We don't know about hair color in the earlier generations, so we're not sure where the red hair came from. 

All redheads

 1957  Melissa, David, Dick, Bill, Jane

Tom, Susan

Jan

All three of Dick's and Connie's children have red hair. All four of Bill's and Mary's children have red hair. David's and Dorothy's three children emerged with brown hair. There are two redheads among Bill's, Dick's, and David's 10 grandchildren.  The next generation is still arriving, 12 so far - a few of them have red hair. 

As far as I remember we were the only family of redheads in London, Ohio. I do remember one other person with red hair. After reading quite a few articles to prepare this post, I think his red hair was a form of albinism in people of African descent.

1952 or 1953 -  Bill, Jan, Mary, Susan, Julia & Tom 

In junior high I did a genetics project for the science fair. I bred mice  (kept in metal bins on the kitchen counter - thank you Mom) to demonstrate Mendel's law of genetics. Then I charted our family to show how a recessive gene, red hair, had apparently become dominant, at least for a few generations. 

With our red hair - Did we get teased? Yes, but most people get teased about something. 

Do we have freckles? Yes, some of us more than others. Through the years I've remarked that the only way I'd get a tan would be for my freckles to run together. I've just learned that the medical term for freckles is ephelides.  Along with freckles I now have age spots. These are related to a history of sun exposure. Freckles and age spots - lucky me!

Do we sunburn? You bet we did and still do! Mom spent summers with us at the pool. Her beautiful tan was never matched by her lobster red, sunburned children. Some of us remember contests to see who could peel off the largest piece of blistered, sunburned skin.  The smell and feel of Noxzema on a sunburn are vivid summer memories. Digression - According to this article in Advertising Age, Noxzema was developed as a sunburn remedy and then morphed into a facial cleanser and make-up remover. We used at lot of Noxzema at North Oak Street. 

My recollection is that I expected to get one good sunburn at the beginning of the summer. That would hurt - sometimes quite a bit. Then I'd be OK the rest of the summer. I remember a few sunburns so severe that I could hardly move - not a pleasant experience. These were the days before sunscreen and worries about skin cancer. Hopefully we'll be able to dodge that bullet in our later years. I'm trying to make up for past ignorance by liberal use of sunscreen, sunhats, and sunshirts. I may need to rethink this strategy for all but the summer month(s) in our new home in the Pacific Northwest. I've read that my fair skin maximizes my ability to get Vitamin D in lowlight conditions. 

When Joe and I were missionaries in the Bahamas, little children were often fascinated with our white skin. One little girl touched my arm and said, "You have sprinkles on your skin!" She'd never seen freckles before. 

As I was typing this, I remembered my sister Susan sending me a quote - "A face without freckles is like a sky without stars." Digression - I googled to find the source of the quote. Evidently the phrase comes from a song by Natasha Bedingfield. The phrase even has its own Facebook page. 

I didn't always appreciate my red hair. Over the years I've learned to embrace it and love it. Fortunately that happened long enough ago that I could enjoy it before it became sprinkled with gray. 

Now most people wouldn't call me a redhead because my hair looks brown and gray - unless I'm in the sun, and then the red shows up. Dad's hair never turned gray, it just got browner as he aged.

One more story - Joe said my red hair was a big plus for him. Recognizing people has always been difficult for him. Redheads are easier to remember and  find in a crowd. 

1951 or early 1952 - Tom, Julia, Susan & Jan with Grandmother MildredF

(The original photographer almost cut Tom out of the picture)

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See the wikipedia article here about redheads. Worldwide, redheads are a very small group. Redheads are celebrated in numerous books and websites.