52 Ancestors Week 19: Bald

 From Amy Johnson Crow: The theme for Week 19 is "Bald." Bald people. Bald eagle. Night on Bald Mountain. Those are just a few way you can explore the theme!

See also: Hairless and clean-shaven

    Baldness is a trait that's often passed down on the mother's side of the family and for centuries men everywhere have tried to hide their folically challenged heads in many ways through wigs, shaving it all off and by even joining the "Hair Club for Men". At fourty-four years old at the time of this blog, I haven't had to worry about doing any of those things. That isn't to say I don't have bald guys in my family tree. I totally do and prior to posting this week's blog I sat with my parents to discuss the issue. We talked about where the history of baldness in the family started and it went about as well as you might expect.

Dr. James Ferraiolo D.M.D.

    My father, Doctor James Ferraiolo, started going bald before my parents met in the late 1960s. My mother has said time and time again that she never knew him with hair. That's interesting because his high school graduation picture showed that he was little thinning at the top. Not much but maybe the arrival of two spunky rapscallions pushed him over the edge. =D

    He never seemed to let baldness bother him and he never wore a hairpiece or anything to cover up his lack of hair. So, the question is how did he get so bald so fast? To answer that question, we'd have to look at his grandfathers. Vincenzo had a full head of hair up until he passed away in 1970. He went from dark brown to silver by the time my mother met him. Vincenzo’s father, Marco, was not bald as far as I can tell. We'll be circling back to the Ferraiolo family in a bit. Just hold that thought for now!

    With one grandfather out of the running, logic dictates that you'd have to pick the other one, right? Right! We're looking for the maternal side, remember. That just leaves one man....

He looks like he's waiting for the bus.

    Giuseppe Carrabs started going bald probably after his daughters were born or during their childhood. I've never really seen that many pictures of him as a young man. Just one. You can imagine raising six girls would be enough for any man to tear his hair out. Either that or stress at the bank got to him.

    I don't think it honestly came down to either of those things! Does that picture to the left tell you he was stressed out over his daughters? No. I didn't think so. It was the gardening that did it. It's such a dangerous hobby.

    You would've thought that the conversation ended here. You’d think that my father would have accepted that his baldness was inherited through grandma Ollie who got the gene from her father. Hmmm....not so fast, readers!  While Giuseppe was indeed bald, there was one other man who was probably more hairless up top than he was!

Italian man or British butlet? 
YOU decide.

    Giuseppe's father, Vincenzo, looked like he had some thinning hair in this picture to the right, doesn't he? It's a little hard to tell, I admit because of how bright his head looks. I'm also not a fan of the glare on the picture. But, beggers can't be choosers when one has a rare picture of their second great-grandfather who lived his entire life in the Campanian town of Gesualdo. I wonder if I can remove that in Photoshop. I probably can! Or I could just do a simple edit. Hmm....The glare isn't too bad.

    I digress. If you look close enough, you can sort of make out a receding hairline. Baldness here must have been inherited by the Carrabs clan in Gesualdo. 

    So, that's it, right? Has the mystery behind the history of male-pattern baldness in my family been solved? Can we put the issue to rest? Eh....I would.but it's time to circle back to the Ferraiolo side of the tree. 

      I know that baldness is inherited through the mother's side of the tree. However, when I tried to explain everything to my father he quickly pointed out that grandpa Marco  was just as bald as he was! That's true. In almost every picture I have of grandpa Marco, the man is just as bald as my dad. That's kinda spooky now that I think about it. 

That shirt is so 1970s.

   As you can see Grandpa Marco here was just as bald as my father. How did he get so bald?! Well, we know Vincenzo wasn't bald. What about his mother Maria's parents?

    Maria's parents were Antonio Tedesco and Maria Domenica Gullo of the Calabrian town of San Pietro a Maida. As I only have one picture of both of them in my collection, I can plainly see that Antonio's hair was thinning a bit at the top.

    It's okay. Both he and my other second great-grandfather both made up for their lack of hair in the form of trademark old Italian man moustaches. 

 Once I told my father about Antonio's thinning hair, I suddenly came to a realization. Dad was doomed from the start since baldness was on BOTH sides of the tree! 

    I guess all that answered the mystery of my father's bald head. Now, wait a minute. What about me? I think at this point I'm probably not going to lose my hair. My chances here are pretty good. My grandfather Robert had a full head of hair up until he passed away. None of the men on my maternal side seemed to go bald or anything. My father was quick to mention how my mother's brother, Bob was bald. That was a choice. Sometimes guys like to shave their heads!

    Baldness isn't anything to be ashamed of and a lot of celebrities rock the look from Sir Patrick Stewart to Vin Disel. In today's society, we really shouldn't be obsessed with losing our lochs. Hair loss is natural and the sooner we accept that it's in our genes, the better. Now, that doesn't mean I'm going to go out and shave my head. No. I live in New England. Who wants their head to be cold in the winter?! There's a reason why my dad wears a hat when he shovels. At least he has an answer for who to blame for his baldness. Everyone!!

See ya next time!