The Richmond palladium. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1855-1875, 1868-10-20
The ArtiffcialsH air Trade.
"A curiousacas has just arrived Z
Hayre 8 Thu Erench slin pronheto

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| "A curious cargo has just arrived 4
Havre. The French ship Prophete.
from Vera Cruz, comes laden entirely
with that commodity for which there
was never ataDy time since the beginning
Of the world 80 great demand as now
false hair, or rather red hair to be used
falsely. The hair in question is almost
all black. and consists in great part Of
scalps of Apauchos, Comanches, and
other native Mexican tribes. When the
French army was in Mexico many OF the
Indians fed in terror to get out Of the
way but first hid in caves and woods the
bones of their ancestors and trophies
they had won in war. Among the latter
none. are more sacred than the scalps OF
enemies. with the long hair attached.
Some smart French spectators by the.
aid Of bribery contrived to discover the
sanctuaries where the scalps were con-
cealed, and the result is an acquisition
for France which is expected at once to
cause a fall in false hair in the great
marts of Brittany. Normandy, and
Auvergne, in which provinces all the
peasant girls sell their hair early, and
wear a cotton kerchief round their head
Tor the rest of their lives. At present
the merchandise is filthy to behold. ard
smells SO bad as to infect the whole
port. But the owners say when well
washed and purified by steam it will
become butifully soft and glossy and no
doubt next season much of it will float
over the most fashionable necks IN Paris.
The statistics OF the false hair trade
furnish curious evidence of the increas
ing and the increased artificiality of the
age, Male wigs have gone out of fashion,
| and it is the enormous quantities of
false hair used by ladies which have
caused the vast rise in it's price. This
has gone up 400 per cent. within the
| last dozen years, while four times as
much is used now as at that period
! Sixteen times as much money is, con
sequently, spent upon this article OF ad
! ornmcnt in the present year as was de
voted to it in 1856. a suggestive fact for
/ the SWANS who arc now admiring the
/ silken tresses of their fair partners in
the dance, or at the sea- side promenade
| Those who only know false hair from
curious lamps of it in the hairdressers
/ windows, and from a general suspicion
+ that they see it on the heads of some of
their friends, cannot form a notion of
/ the extent to which the trade in it is
carried on 1t has wholesale dealers
with large warehouses, and skilled labor
ers constantly at work. 1t is manufac
tured To meet the wishes and the purses
OF all classes of society, from the six
penny frisett sold To fill out the sparse
locks of the servSnt of ali work. to the
| ten guinea head of hair made up to aid
! the beauty of Duchess. The finest
specimens of this elderly hair-will sell
for as much as two guiaeas an ounce ;
while the very best black or brown will
sell from eighteen shillings to a guinea,
and the best f1axen at about q guinea
and a half. The latter variety is, be the
quality what it may, about fifty per cent.
dearer than black Or brown hair, while
white or grey fetches more than the lat
ter by 100 per cant For it is unneces
sary to say that much of the hair sold is
far less expensive than that just quoted
Quality, color, and length determine its
price, which ranges few shillings an
ounce upwards.-t London Daily News.