Macassar oil

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Macassar oil was a hair oil used by Western European men in the 1800s and early 1900s to condition and style their hair. It was originally made from Macassar ebony oil. The product was popularized by London barber Alexander Rowland, who began selling Rowland’s Macassar Oil around 1793. Within about twenty years it became very popular and was one of the first products to be advertised nationwide. The name Macassar Oil was trademarked by A. Rowland & Sons in 1888. A relative from Celebes (now Sulawesi, Indonesia) helped obtain the basic ingredient. Because the original tree oil, Schleichera oleosa (kayu hitam), became harder to get, makers moved to other vegetable oils such as coconut, palm, or Kusum oil, mixed with fragrant oils like ylang-ylang. The oil was named Macassar because it was said to be made from ingredients bought in the port of Makassar in the Dutch East Indies. Poets and writers mentioned it, with Byron joking about it in Don Juan and Lewis Carroll mentioning it in Haddocks’ Eyes. To prevent the oil from staining chairs, people developed antimacassars—small cloths placed over the back of chairs to protect upholstery.