The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1866-08-06
HUMAN HAIR.

Most people prefer to wear that which grows
spontaneously upon their Own heads to that
cultivated by anybody else. But the desires and
preferences OF mortal men and women are not
always consulted by Dame Ma ure, and among
the many trials to whicn she subjects u.s. the
loss of our hair is not the least. what nature
denies ms srt must suppy-hence wig-makers.
H. however, the demand Tor human hair was
confined to the cover ng up oil bald heads alone,
artists in hair Mould r osc Oe rev eva IN m nuDrr
that no lady,s toilette is complete unless she has
a wad of somebody's else hair mixed with her
own, saves the artist from starvation.
We had supposed for the past few years-or
since waterfalls, curls, fronts, and all the long
hst of insects aud vermin fer ladies' wear be-
came popular-that ladies monopolized, com
paratively speaking, the human hair business
Investigations however, convinces us that they
have not got great deal the advantage of US,
and that gentlemen are given to wearing de-
eeptive heads as well as the opposite sex. In
fact, the consumption OF imported hair by the
two ssxes is not far from equal, or, at a liberal
estimate, as five to three.
The importation OF human hair to this coun
try involves the expenditure OF upwards of one
million dollars per aAnum. There are not over
hall doXen large importers In the country, and
OF these the majority conduct business in this
city. They purchase from the manufacturers In
France and Germany. The human hair OF com
merce is obtained from France, Germany, and
Belgium principally. Peddlers in those coun-
tries go from one town TO another and purchase
from the peasant girls their supcrluous halr,
THESE peddlers are well known in their par
ticular districts and theT coming is anxIously
looked Tor by the maldens with wnom they
trade. These women, all OF whom are nard
workers in the house or in the field, are glad to
obtain lew articles OF dnery Tor the covered
locks which to them are an incumbranoe. The
peddler cuts the hair himself leaving to the
peasant girl her front locks. These she brushes
back behind ner ears and visits in knot at the
back Of. her head. the shorn spots being covered
by those bewItching little caps which break the
hearts OF artists and penetrate the souls of
poets. The peddler having gone through his
district and gathered his crop, the yield vary
ing from TOUR or five ounces to pound OF hair
per head, hastens to one of the large cities
where he dsposes of his harvest, the girls
shaven and shorn taking themselves to the work
OF the ields
What maiden thus disposes of for a few
trlnkets OF the value of one or two dollars the
peddler sells to the manufacturer Tor eight or
ten. The halr has now to go through series of
difficult as well as deXterous manlpulations
before it is ready for market. 1t is first washed
in chemical solutions TO cleanse it from all i'm
Durities, and remove the oil which is natural to
h. This operation KILLS the hair, but
Its grow; color. 1t is then carefully
s0rs Sored 0f into various lengths when Is zone ~
means of brushes, The halr ts sorted from tne
tips always and can be done with great rapld"".y
by the deXterous fingers OF the WorBtLen A
Young ladys head will yield hair OF two, three,
or four colors, according to the degree OF eX-
posure it has undergone, and lengths OF from
two to forty inches. These lengths ana coors
are made up in uniform punches, and shipped
to the large dealers.
The dealers become so expert in handling
hair that they are enabled nom the color and
smell of the har to tell what part OF the country
it comes from, and in some instances the exact
town and family. SPAN, France, and Italy
furnish the market with black and dark brown
hair; the southern and middle portions of
Germany supply light brown and chesnut;
Sweden the blonde, and Scotland the red
White hair is found wherever old people exist,
and is the most expensive OF all varieties
White halr, from thirty TO forty inches in
length, IS worth $40 per ounce at the manufaC-
turer's. Other len Iths are proporronably vau-
able. Blonde, or sandy har ranks next IN
point of value, but is closely followed by the
red. Indeed, for short time, when red heads
were fashionable, locks OF a Sanguinary hue
rIvalled white in The matter of cost and scarcity.
OF brown hair there is a greater supply than
any other color. Black is to be found in large
quantities, and the cost of the two latter colors
is consequently less than any OF the others.
Turkey demands the longe HAIR in the mar
ket, and Russia the greatest quantity. France
consumes an immense quantity, owing to the
fact tnat 1t is cheaper there than any where else
and also Tor the reason that greater degree OF
skill in dressing it is found there than any where
else. In Paris, to population Of one million
and hall, there are upwards OF 5000 hair
dresseTs, all of whom are also manufacturer OF
heao-orDaments. America pays the highest
price for her hair, owing to the duties imposed.
The tax on the unmanutactured harr IS 80 per
cent; on ready-made goods, 40 per cent; and
on goods manulactu ed with silk go per cent.
The prices OF manufactured goods depend upon
the length OF the hair
.uanuiaclured goods are those articles known
as ''fronts," or any contriVance designed TO
. cover lady's badness These require great
amount of labor, each aud every hair being
woven through piece OF white silk. This is
done mostly by ladies in Paiis, where Their
labor costs but a trIhe. For this reason this
class of hair-wo:k is nearly all imported. In
the manufacture OF waterfalls, rats, mlce and
other arrangements for the adoTnment of ladies'
heads, America can do as we'll as France.
These articles have always been mystery to
gentlemen, but anybody can make them, when
they know how. They are made Of har "wet'
rolled round a wad OF cotton. To make the
"Wett" you set two little upright sticks on a
table; then YOU stretch three black threads
from one to the other; then you take little
lock OF long hair, apo run IT under one thread,
over another, then under, then over, then make
a bal-htch, haul it taut and make all fast;
then you take another little lock, and do the
over and under business same as before and
keep DONG it till you get about SIX inches OF it,
and that's "Reit."
Then to make the waterfall, you ta're a bag
any size is tashionaDle-hll 1t with hair that
can't be used anywhere else, then wind your
welt outside of II, tucAlng the ends into the bag
then you cover the whole thing with a smal
fshnet, and sprinkle on few beads and span
gleb and thaJs a waterfall. Anybody can maze
them-rats and mice are made the same way
only little different. Usually, however, the
animals consist OF a cotton wad, which the ladie
work into their own halr when they want L
have TO Get the wads covered with some on
else's hair. Rolls and coils are also made o
Neft, wrapped around cotton wads. lady
head-gear may cost from S5 to 500, accoTdin