Trop picks: Macassar Oil Tree
If you're a fan of the Victorian novel, you might have come across the word “antimacassar.” “Someone’s fancy auntie,” you thought, and left it at that if you were too lazy to consult a dictionary. Or, if you were exceptionally well-traveled and familiar with the smaller islands of the Indonesian archipelago, you might have recalled a place there called Makassar.
If you thought the latter, give yourself a pat on the back, since the word is in fact related to that distant land. “Macassar” itself refers to a kind of hair oil—Macassar oil--extracted from Macassar oil or kusum tree (Schleichera oleosa) that was imported from the bustling port of Makassar on the island of Sulawesi.
(A brief history of Makassar: when the great port of Malacca fell to the Portuguese in the sixteenth century, many Malay traders fled to Makassar. Banking on long-established trade networks, they flourished in their new home until Makassar fell to the Dutch East India Company in the 1660s. Under its new rulers, Makassar would continue to play a central role in Eastern seaborne commerce until the rise of Singapore.)
The Macassar oil tree belongs to the genus Sapindacea which makes it a relative of other hair-friendly soapberries like the Southern Chinese longan, whose seeds were also used to wash hair back in the old days. (Some recipes for Macassar oil call for mixing in a drop or two of ylang-ylang oil, giving it a lovely scent.)
The oil was extremely popular with all the Victorian dandies. And for those unfortunate enough to experience early male pattern baldness, it held out all the hope that Rogaine does today.
"Gentlemen," entreats one testimonial from Colonel J. Walker, "I consider it almost an imperative duty to state the valuable efficacy of your most excellent MACASSAR OIL. For the last fifteen years I have been bald, occasioned by a most dreadful fever whilst in India. I have used almost every means to procure a head of hair, but all my efforts seemed fruitless, until accidentally a friend advised the use of your valuable “Hair Restorer” (I can give it no better name), and after having used a 3s. 6d. bottle, every symptom of a new head of hair began to show itself, to the joy not only of myself, but my children…I resolved on having another, and before the whole of which was used, I had, and have, as handsome a head of hair as ever a man enjoyed, and I earnestly recommend all who have not tried this most excellent Oil, will not fail to do so."
As the oil was ubiquitous, hostesses everywhere fretted over the potential damage a well-oiled coiffure could do to a beautifully-upholstered sofa. And so, the antimacassar came into being: a small square of cloth, resembling a doily, placed against the headrest of a chair to protect it from the oil.
As Macassar oil fell out of fashion, so did the antimacassar. The last time I saw one was in my grandma’s house. And also on the seats on Japan Rail.
