Leaving Off Powder, or a Frugal Family Saving the Guinea

In this hilarious print, Gillray forecasts the likely reactions of a typical "frugal family" to the new hair powder tax which had been proposed and passed by Parliament in February, and which was to become effective in May of 1795.

The hair powder tax was just one of the innovative (not to say desperate) duties and fees Prime Minister William Pitt was imposing upon British citizens to defray the growing costs of the war against revolutionary France. All those who wished to use hair powder to color their hair or whiten their wigs were required by the new law to register at a stamp office and to purchase for a guinea (21 shillings) a usage certificate that was good for a year. Failure to comply could result in a £20 fine. That doesn't sound awful until you realize that a pound in 1795 was equivalent to more than £100 in today's currrency.

According to Rachel Knowles, the fashion of wearing wigs, (like many fashion statements) began in France. King Louis XIII found himself growing bald at an early age. So he began wearing a wig to hide that fact. The practice was then adopted by his fawning courtiers and brought to England by Charles II who had spent significant time during his exile from England at the French court. Gillray may be alluding to that bit of history in the decidedly French hairdresser on the left and the exaggerated portrait of Charles II on the back wall of the room.

As usual, Gillray does brilliant job of arranging and portraying a variety of figures and expressions in this caricature family portrait. The fat, ugly, and old-fashioned father standing before the fire was clearly the decision maker in this instance. As the scales on the mantelpiece behind him suggest, he's the kind of guy who weighs his guineas (and his decisions) carefully. He gets his news from the official government newspaper, The Gazette, and what he appears to be reading about "New Taxes," and "Bankru[pts]" has obviously convinced him (as the title of the print suggests) to leave off the powder and save the four guineas per year that would be required for his household. His hand is thrust deliberately in his pocket as if to protect his purse. And even though the law would not be effective for a couple of months, he is already wearing a short brown wig without the white powder.

His family is not thrilled with his decision. His taller, slimmer, and more stylish children are shocked and dismayed at what they see in their mirrors. And his bald, fat, and ugly wife is utterly horrified as the predictably scrawny French hairdresser approaches with an un-powdered wig.

Sources and Reading

• Commentary from the British Museum on Leaving Off Powder, or a Frugal Family Saving the Guinea.
• "Duty on Hair Powder Act 1795," Wikipedia
• Sarah Murden, "Hair Powder Tax," All Things Georgian
• Rachel Knowles, "Hair powder and pomatum," Regency History
• Thomas Wright and R.H. Evans, Historical and Descriptive Account of the Caricatures of James Gillray #117.
• Thomas Wright and Joseph Grego, The Works of James Gillray, the Caricaturist; With the History of His Life and Times, p. 187.