Does anyone know!

I have often wonder what the Millitary men in the Victorian era used on their hair!! You will notice in nearly all of the photo's of these men thier hair as be gelled with something. It's not Brillcreame that wasn't about until the 1920s. Any ideas?

Really?
Can't say I've noticed. Can you point to an example?

Hi John.

Yes, it used to be Macassar oil, but the problem was that if they rested their head against the back of the seat it left an oily stain on the fabric, so the answer was to use a piece of cloth to cover the headrest part of the seat, hence the name antimacassar.

Hope this helps.

Martin, thank you ver much. I wonder if it had a odour...

Rowlands had been around since the mid 1870's. Two popular hair treatments was Bears grease, like the sold by James Atkinson, Prices, Whittaker & Grossmith to name but a few and various pomades for the hair and moustches, such as Knowles "essauline" or Pomade D'sau
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Usually sold in ceramic containers with trasnfer printed lids,

Thirty years of digging up victorian dumps, these items are very collectible, I have a Atkinsons Bears grease in my own collection, plus various bear grease lids from F & R Pratt of fenton. the bear the cock & Lion (crimean war connections, "All but trapped", "alas poor bruin" and "Hunting bears"
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Regs

Fascinating stuff

With regards to it's odour!

"Macassar oil from Schleichera trijuga a buttery-yellow oil smelling of almonds."
If you worked in Bomb disposal, you wouldn't want to be wearing Macassar oil hair gel!!!