In the 1860s P. T. Barnum exhibited women as Circassian beauties. They wore a distinctive hair style, which had no precedent in earlier portrayals of Circassians, but was soon copied by other performers, known as moss haired girls.

These were typically presented Turkish sexual slaves who had escaped the harem for freedom in America.

Their distinctive hairstyle was held in place by the use of beer.

For some reason I am compelled to share this with you – it is something I have never heard about before and am going to be reading more about it. If I find more information about this I will update this post.