The Indianapolis Journal

Ears and Earrings

How Lobes are Pierced and the Pains of Piercing.

Brooklyn Union.

"I'm the happiest woman in the world," said a beautiful young lady in the store of Mr. P. W. Taylor, the well-known Fulton-street jeweler, a day or two ago.

She occasionally carried her handkerchief to her ears, glancing in a mirror at the same time, her face all the while brightening up with a smile.

"Why, they are not bleeding at all; and I thought it was an awful ordeal to go through."

And once more did her handkerchief find its way to a pair of small and delicate ears.

She had just undergone the operation of having her ears pierced. She renewed her exclamation of pleasure, while a lady attendant sold to her a pair of diamond pendants.

Modern civilized nations regard the ear-ring almost exclusively as a female ornament, and in America an Italian or other foreigner with little rings of silver in the lobes of his ears is looked upon very much as a wild being, approaching in barbarous fashion the original ruler of this land who yet lords it on the Western plains when Uncle Sam's regulars are at a safe distance.

Among less-advanced and uncivilized people ear-rings are worn by both sexes, a custom which sailors of different nationalities frequently follow. Among the ancient Greeks and Romans the ear-ring was considered effeminate, while in Eastern countries, on the authority of Pliny, it was used by men and women alike.

Ear-rings were worn by the English down to the tenth century. That custom was revived among them again in the sixteenth century, and extended even to gentlemen of the royal court who followed the example of the courtiers of Henry III of France. Satirical allusions to this habit are common in the writings of contemporary dramatists. It appears to have died out about the time of the Restoration. Ear-rings in those days assumed a variety of forms, and were, as now, of gold encircled with precious stones. Pearls were valued for their spherical shape, their size and their whiteness, but the elongated rings worn as late as thirty years ago were in great esteem as forming a graceful pendant to the ears. For elegance of design and beauty of execution the ear-rings of the Etruscans and Greeks have never been surpassed.

To-day a woman will submit to have her ears pierced much more readily than she would a few years back. The facility and painlessness with which the operation is now performed have made ear-rings more popular than ever.

A few minutes after the scene described above had been concluded a lady entered Mr. Taylor's store. She led a little girl by the hand. She wanted her ears pierced.

The jeweler called for a small ivory handled instrument, with a small steel point about three-eighths of an inch long, and about as stout as the average sewing needle. He placed a small, solid cork behind the lobe of the child's left ear, and ran the needle through the flesh.

The mother shuddered and put her hands before her eyes, while the child merely looked up at the jeweler as if in perfect wonder at what was taking place.

"Well," exclaimed the mother, "the nerve that this child has got is simply astonishing. I wouldn't go through that operation for a good deal."

By this time the child's other ear had been pierced, and in the holes made were inserted two little hollow tubes, which were not to be removed until the holes had healed-in a few days.

"Is the operation painful?" a Union reporter asked Mr. Taylor.

"Very seldom. It does happen sometimes that the lobe is hard and gristly; then the piercing is painful. Large ears, away from the head, are the toughest. Fat ears and small are the easiest to pierce. As a rule, however, the operation is accompanied by only a twinge of pain, which disappears as soon as the needle is withdrawn."

"Were you ever asked to pierce the ears of a baby?"

"The age is usually from four to fourteen years. It is very seldom that a girl passes the age of fourteen without wearing ear-rings."

"Are there many persons who make it a business to pierce ears?" the reporter asked another jeweler.

"Not that I know of. Some years ago women in straitened circumstances pretended to follow such a business, but it has always been the jewelers who have done the most of it. If we sell a pair of ear-rings to a person who never had her ears pierced she usually asks first whether we are willing to perform the operation. Some jewelers won't pierce ears under any circumstances."

"What do you charge for piercing one pair of ears?"

"Nothing. We do it to sell the ear-rings. It is very seldom that anybody, except intimate friends, ask us to pierce their ears unless they mean to buy something to put in them."

"Do the ears become inflamed after the operation?"

"Very seldom if care is taken of them. Sometimes little girls will scratch their freshly-pierced ears, and occasion painful sores thereby. Grown young ladies, however, are much more likely to follow our instructions, in which case all trace of soreness ought to disappear inside of a week."

"Do old women ever apply for such an operation?"

"I had one once. She was close on to sixty. She had never worn ear-rings; but she got married in her old age and her aged beau of a husband insisted she should wear ear-rings. He was a laborer. He came to me and made a great deal of fuss about wanting his wife to be in the fashion, etc. Of course, I pierced the woman's ears. She made a thunder of a fuss over it, fainted, and got her old man all in a worry. But I didn't mind it much. I could see a sale of a nice pair of ear rings, and could afford to be cool. The old fool didn't buy anything, because I didn't have a pair of ear rings for $1."

"Are ears pierced more than once?"

"Yes, frequently. Sometimes the tube is taken out too soon, and the opening closes before it heals. Then the operation has to be gone over again. In that case it is always painful."

"What proportion of the female family do you suppose wear ear-rings?"

"I cannot say. If I can judge by those who visit my store, I should say about ninety-nine out of one hundred. There is a very strange case in this city, talking about ears and ear-rings. The person I refer to is a very respectable woman, and belongs to a very respectable family, therefore I don't like to give you her name. But I'll tell you her story.

Eight years ago she was courted by two young men, and finally became engaged to one of them. I always thought her parents influenced her in her decision, for I think she loved the other the most. One day, shortly before her marriage, she came into my store with her discarded lover, and accepted a handsome pair of ear rings from him. I pierced her ears and she insisted on wearing the ear-rings at once. This was something unusual, but a pretty girl generally has her way in this world, and I allowed her to gratify her wish. They both lingered at a show case, and when, for a few minutes, the store was without a customer I heard her say: 'Good-by; I may never see you again, but these ear-rings shall never leave me.' They rather surprised me by kissing, and then the man left the store alone.

Five minutes later the young woman walked out. She was married the following week, and five years ago her husband left her. The strange part of the story is that she cannot get those ear rings out of her ears. She is wealthy and they are out of fashion. But she must wear them. The flesh somehow has tightened so around them that they cannot be taken out without a painful operation that would disfigure the ears. Around the little wire the lobe of the ear is as hard as a stone. She came to me in her predicament, but while she was willing to part with her lover's gift, I could do nothing but advise her to go to a surgeon."

Except among the poor, who wear plated ear-rings, the old-time practice of piercing the ears with a sewing needle and keeping the incision open with a bit of straw has gone out of fashion. The reason for this is easy to guess. It costs nothing to have it done in a safe way by a practical hand.