My Little Dutt

I hadn't thought of my dutt in years but, suddenly, not too long ago, I remembered how my mom would ask me if I wanted her to put a dutt in my hair. I usually agreed, since it was a cool hairdo for a hot Nebraska day.

In German, a hair bun is called a dutt, which rhymes with the English word, put. The word, used in Germany and Switzerland, simply refers to a particular hairstyle, commonly called a bun in the US. Mom would twist my ponytail into a little dutt, right on top of my head, and secure it with two or three bobby pins. She usually left some of my hair hanging down, since it was too short to pull it all up into a bun.

She told me how her mom had given her a dutt when she was a little girl, and how her grandma, who spoke only German, had often given my grandma the same hairstyle. So the hairdo, as well as its name, had been passed down through several generations.

I don't remember that anyone else I knew ever wore a dutt. I never heard the word used anywhere except at home--or at Grandma's house. I didn't know or care that my unique hairstyle was not really in style at all. It mattered, though, that Mom took the time to actually style my hair.

When I was three, Mom often braided my hair into two braids that joined together in the back to make a single, short braid, tied with a ribbon. And, of, course, I had short bangs, probably freshly trimmed for this rare photo session.

Sometimes Mom braided my hair. Sometimes she cut it, badly, with crooked bangs that were always way too short. That's the way it was done back then, in rural Nebraska. No one could afford to pay someone to cut a child's hair, so a parent, grandparent, or even an aunt, was the one to cut our hair. Even as a very young child, I combed it myself, with just a little help from Mom to make a semi-straight part and clip in a plastic barrett. Sometimes, for holidays or special occasions, Mom would put my damp hair up in uncomfortable curlers that I would have to attempt to sleep in all night so my hair would curl beautifully the next day. When I was a little older, Mom would wrap a towel around my shoulders, seat me on a tall kitchen stool, and give me a home permanent so my naturally straight hair would curl easily, at least for a few weeks.

I was six in this photo. If you look closely, you can see two little dutts, one on each side of my head. This is the only picture I have of me with a dutt of any kind. However, whether I had one dutt on top of my head, or two, as in this photo, they were always this size.

By the time I was nine years old, I had outgrown dutts, or perhaps Mom didn't have time to fuss with my hair, since we had just moved to the Hotel Mary-Etta, where Mom's workload escalated greatly.

I remember giving my daughter, Erin, a dutt on hot summer days, or to wear to dance classes. Meagan's hair was too fine to stay up in a dutt, so I didn't even try. Victoria's hair had a mind of its own, but I undoubtedly gave her a dutt for her one and only dance recital. My granddaughters, though, usually wear their hair in french braids or ponytails. They have experimented a bit with buns, but I haven't introduced them to the rather unique hairstyle that has been passed down from one generation to the next. Perhaps it's time.

What is the price of five sparrows—two copper coins? Yet God does not forget a single one of them. And the very hairs on your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are more valuable to God than a whole flock of sparrows.

Luke 12:6-7