Purple Hair (or the Absence Thereof)
In the course of our 17-day stay in California, we didn’t see a single person with their hair dyed red or purple. It really struck me as quite a noticeable difference compared to the Czech Republic where these odd hair colors seem to have been the rage for years. I don’t know what it is that drives so many Czech women to color their hair red or purple, but besides blonde, these shades are very popular over here. An American friend was visiting Prague recently and asked me if I could explain a mystery about Czech women that had been puzzling him for years. I was curious to know what it was and, on a full Prague tram, he whispered in my ear: “Purple hair!”. I did not have an answer for him…
I finally noticed a woman with reddish hair at the Frankfurt airport on our way home. She was waiting for the connecting flight to Prague. I soon discovered she was Czech.
I love this!
I suppose if you have been around it for so long, you don’t notice so much. But here in London, if it is dyed red or purple hair, we immediately know they are Eastern European (with few obvious exceptions). And most of the time they are either Czech or Slovak.
That’s funny! 🙂 So you guys have the same experience? You know, even though I live in Prague, the “red hair phenomenon” is something I haven’t quite accepted or gotten used to. I especially notice it when I’ve been gone from the country for a while, e.g. when I come back from vacation. I guess we can safely add “red/purple hair dye” to the list of characteristics defining the Czechs. Like “socks in sandals”. 🙂
As a very young child –right after the war–I remeber being taught a “poem” to taunt and make fun of redheads ( I did not know what it was all about, but my stepfather seemed to get a big kick out of it and enjoy seeing the redheadded child leave crying?).
It went like this (spelling?):
Zrzy, zrzy, co te mrizy
Co te mrzy nejvice. Ta zrzava palice?
Why it was necesasry to make fun of redheads? I tried to get an explenation later inlife, but never got an answer!