ear guages in the 1800s

[Hammerhead]

i could not find anywhere to suit this topic so i winged it here. my buddy wants to get into the sport and he is worried his ear guages wont look pc. they arent huge they are small guages only a quarter inch diameter he wants to look pc somehow would there be anything from back then that would suit this

[pilgrim]

    This is an undocumented guess,  but possible a Native American.      The only other possibility would have been African.    I will be watching this thread to learn,  thanks Kris. 

[Tim Burns]

OK Kris - Humor me: What in the world is an ear gauge???

[crazell]

They are disc's that are put in your ear's.
you can stretch them out by increasing the size of the disc's. They are an alternative to earrings.
Kris I'm sure they were around ,but maybe not in bulk??  I would agree that one of the tribe's may have wore them.. Maybe for a right of passage or a spiritual thing.

[Red Badger]

Good question Kris, 

I will do some research and ask some friends to look into this and post what we find out...

Also I am moving this to the approprate area "help with your persona"

[Hammerhead]

ok thank you all and thank you red badger for putting it where it belonged. and yes a ear guage is just a wide diameter ear disc that is put in the ear by a regular sized piercing then takeing small tapered cone shaped pins and pushing slowly in the piercing and every week push it a little more through to widen the hole. if done to quickly it can cause blow out which is a skin sack pushing through your ear which takes months to straighten it back out

[Red Badger]

ok thank you all and thank you red badger for putting it where it belonged. and yes a ear guage is just a wide diameter ear disc that is put in the ear by a regular sized piercing then takeing small tapered cone shaped pins and pushing slowly in the piercing and every week push it a little more through to widen the hole. if done to quickly it can cause blow out which is a skin sack pushing through your ear which takes months to straighten it back out

Too Much information!   

[Hammerhead]

sorry

[pilgrim]

    1800's also leaves plenty of opening for Pirates

[Watauga]

Kind of a West African thing originally I think?!?
One of the Whalers from Moby Dick?

[beowulf]

I`ve seen some very old paintings of eastern american indians with what appeared to be plugs in their ears . also with ear lobes that were basically just enlarged rings . this would have been done with a form of plug , probably made from shell or bone !

[halfstock]

Yup Beowulf the Osage warriors had a habit of doing that to the ear lobes.

[Bulldog lady]

Just to add to this interesting topic, if memory serves me right and that is getting to be a subject of question?  The nose and ears are  the only two appendages that keep growing through out your life. at what speed I haven't a clue. 

[beowulf]

Just to add to this interesting topic, if memory serves me right and that is getting to be a subject of question?  The nose and ears are  the only two appendages that keep growing through out your life. at what speed I haven't a clue. 

that would explain why some older folk kinda look like skinny elephants   ,had an uncle who could probably pick up several channels with the antennae he had for ears !

[Red Badger]

As promised here is my report:

Osage Warriors did us w bone or shell guage in their ears and there is documentation  that a few of the pacific coast natives also practiced this.  So if your friend can pass as a native american he should be alright... I tried to look for an example of an adopted white being allowed to do this but was unable to find any reference... That being said it is documented in several cases that white children who were captured and adopted became skilled and revered warriors so it is possible that one would have been allowed to follow this practice.