Ears

[Beautiful_Anastasia]

Ok, REALLY random question here - does anyone know at what age OTMA had their ears pierced? And how did they do it?
Emily xxx

[Sarushka]

To my knowledge the Little Pair never had their ears pierced.

Olga and Tatiana both wear visible earrings in the 1913 formals. Olga's 1913 diary does not mention ear-piercing, so I'm ruling out 1913. In the 1911 portraits they do not wear earrings. So their ears were likely pierced sometime in 1912, or possibly in late 1911.

Probably it was done the old fashioned way -- with a threaded needle and a piece of soap or cork held behind the earlobe to protect the neck. (That's how my grandpa pierced my aunts' ears in the 1950s.)

[clockworkgirl21]

I've always wondered if OT chose to have them pierced, or if it was something they were forced into. And why MA never had it done.

[Beautiful_Anastasia]

Probably it was done the old fashioned way -- with a threaded needle and a piece of soap or cork held behind the earlobe to protect the neck. (That's how my grandpa pierced my aunts' ears in the 1950s.)

Ouch! That sounds like it would have hurt!

I've always wondered if OT chose to have them pierced, or if it was something they were forced into. And why MA never had it done.

Are you sure Maria never had her ears pierced? I think I recall a few photographs with her wearing earrings, but I could be mistaken...
Emily xxx

[Sunny]

Saruska is right. The Big pair wear earings both in 1913 and 1916 formal session.
The Little Pair don't nor in 1914 neither in 1916
Look (i uploaded them in a big version because you can better see their ears. Please sorry if it's slowly to work).

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/200/1913otb10.jpg/
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/684/1914ma6.jpg/
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/856/1916otma3.jpg/

Still during captivity in Zarskoje Selo, Anastasia has no earings.
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/824/1917nastja1.jpg/

While it *seems* (if my eyes are still good) that Maria have them in this pic (still captivity in Zarskoje). This could be interesting.
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/809/1917tma.jpg/

We can summarize so: OT had their ears pierced around 1911 (after may)/1912; Maria had them some time between late 1916 and february 1917 (she hadn't them in 1916 formal session). Anastasia have not them still in 1917 so maybe she hadn't them at all, but since we don't have clear pics after captivity in Zarskoje, we can't tell for certain.
If i'm wrong, please correct me.

[nena]

Still during captivity in Zarskoje Selo, Anastasia has no earings.
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/824/1917nastja1.jpg/

You are not wrong, but the photo was mislabeled, this one was taken at Stavka/Mogilev in summer of 1916. Both Olga and Maria(?) got pierced when 17, right?

[Sunny]

You are not wrong, but the photo was mislabeled, this one was taken at Stavka/Mogilev in summer of 1916. Both Olga and Maria(?) got pierced when 17, right?

Thanks for the info nena! I corrected the label in my collection.
The summary doesn't change anyway, as you can see here: no earings for Anastasia.
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/69/1917na2.jpg/

Both Olga and Maria(?) got pierced when 17, right?

I have no idea for sure; in 1916 session Maria has no earing, like a stated in my previous post, but she has in march 1917. As for Olga, she has them in 1913 so... she was 17 or something. This could be a clue, but Tatiana had them in 1913 too, even if she was "only" 16. Maybe there wasn't a fixed age for them?
I had my ears pierced when i was 8 and all my friends already had.
Moreover, i can assure you both my mom & aunts used the method Saruska described in her post. It hurted, of course. But i'm not reliable: i had a "normal" piercing in a normal jewelery shop in 1995, but it hurted anyway!

[Beautiful_Anastasia]

Ok, so it seems like they had their ears pierced around 16-17, which I think is old enough to consider them adults, so perhaps (whether they wanted to or not) it was a sort of show of their maturity? Just a theory so please correct me if I'm wrong.

Interesting that Anastasia never had hers pierced , going by photographs (or perhaps she just wasn't wearing them) - what about the last photograph of Anastasia? Can you see her ears in that?
Emily xxx

[Beautiful_Anastasia]

Ha, lol - that last post sounded like I have an ear fetish (which I don't, by the way, so I apologize to all shocked readers  )
Emily xxx

[Sunny]

Interesting that Anastasia never had hers pierced , going by photographs (or perhaps she just wasn't wearing them) - what about the last photograph of Anastasia? Can you see her ears in that?
Emily xxx

That was one of the first ones i looked at. Alas no, you can't see her ear because she has her short hair on the ear.

[Beautiful_Anastasia]

Ah, ok
Emily xxx

[thelastimpofrussia]

Just a note: clip on earings they were in use at least in the 1920s (my grandmother had an antique pair from then) and if not, then earlier.

[Beautiful_Anastasia]

Clip-on earrings... yes, I suppose, but I think they would have had their ears pierced rather than wear them (perhaps it was more... formal? I don't know, it might have had something to do with the cost of having one's ears pierced correctly) anyone know anything about this?
Emily xxx

[Beautiful_Anastasia]

Sorry, I changed the email address on my account and I haven't been able to post since September 29th

While it *seems* (if my eyes are still good) that Maria have them in this pic (still captivity in Zarskoje). This could be interesting.
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/809/1917tma.jpg/

Look at Anastasia's ears!!!!! If you can't see it in this, then try to find a higher definition of the same photo and look closely! It may just be a trick of the light, but I think we're on to something here, taking into account that Anastasia Nikolaevna would have been around 16 at the time of this photo being taken...
Emily xxx

[von Ebert]

Good day

Might I ask what you see regarding (ears)


Regards

von Ebert