The Opelousas courier., 1884-07-05
HAIR BY THE TON
Gathered from Many Llands-Some OF ~
worth Its Weight In Gold.

ton dealer who does a large business
in such articles. Cali classes of ladies
wear it-young, middle-aged and old
some for use, but more for ornament.
Men wear wigs only when they cannot
help it. Women wear false hair to
add to their charms. Short hair is in
demand now. in the form of Lisbon
and sea-foam waves and friZzes, and
the favorite color is chestnut brown.
The golden shade, so much in fashion
a few years ago, has fallen 50 per cent
in price. There is a great deal OF COM
petition, and all kinds of hair goods
are cheaper than they used to be-
Switches, especially, can be had at a
low price. Ladies formerly paid SIS
to 800 for a good one, but they can get
an extra nice style at from S. to SO
to-day"
"Where does the supply of artificial
hair come from?'
NEARLY all from France and Ger
many, with a little from other parts OF
the continent and England. The
largest quantity and best quality is
from France. 1t is not the hair OF
dead persons, as many imagine, but
comes from the heads Of living peasant
women and girls. It is gathered by
peddlers, who buy it for a trife-a
silk kercllief or some other trifle which
pleases the fancy. It is taken to Paris
and sold to manufacturers, who assor'
it in lengths and shades for export to
America and other countries. Here
are some boxes with hair which has
not yet seen light in this country. l
will open ohe. There, you see the
form in which it comes. Little rolls,
which | will pull out so, and you see
what will be part of a Lisbon wave
This is the best quality of hair. There
is also an inferior kind, not much used
which is gathered from ash-barrels and
d~ust-heaps of Paris and Italy, and
assorted into lengths and shades. 1t is
the cheapest kind of hair. Dealers
pay from Sc to s12 a dozen for the
switches, and sell them at 81 and 81
each. We see some raw hair in this
country, but very little. 1t comes
nearly all from the nunneries. | do
not think there would he so pounds of
it in the half a ton of hair which / buy
in a year. There are some inferior
grades made by New York jobbers, but
Aall the good fair comes from abroad.
There are in France regular hal
raisers-that is girls who have thei
hair cut for sale every four years.
"What is the most expensive kind of
hair?"
Natural silver white, like this, is
worth $19 or $40 an ounces; SO, you
see, it is worth more than its weight
in gold. Bleached white hair is worth
only So an ounce. Natural hair of or
binary shades is worth from $5 to $40
a pound, except the hair collected by
rag-pickers, which brings only from 81
to So. The value of different colors of
hair depends on the fashion. Yellow
hair, not golden, is almost useless to
u.s."
Il suppose there have been great i'm
provements in your art of late years.
eyes, indeed. You could tell the
old-fas Toned wig a mile off, but now /
can make a wig which will defy de-
lection. A great many top pieces are
worn by men-like these"
Here the hair dealer. greatly to the
surprise of the reporter, lifted up what
was to all appearance the natural hair
on top of his own head, and disclosed a
Uranium as bare as a billiard ball.
"Now." said he, "here is what we
call the Lisbon wave for ladies. 1t i
in the fashionable shade, but it is worn
over natural hair of any color and
wholly conceals it. A great deal of
hair is required to make a good wig
The hairs have to be drawn through
meshes n by where the parting
is, and at that part the meshes are
made of white hair Wove in pieces OF
different lengths and widths. Here
are some of them"
A few thin packages lay in a small
desk drawer. They looked like coarse
muslin.
'There are $500 worth there said
the dealer. sYou a shut your hand
on 500 worth. A good wave costs
from $5 to $50, according to quality
and color. Ornaments for the hair in
latest style have Rhine stones in them
to sparkle at night. These cost from
Is cents to Sc each. Do I make false
eyebrows? Sometimes, but it is hard
to do good work with them SO they
cannot be detected. / do not make
false mustaches for dudes"
Il suppose you sell a good many
~light-colored waves to dark-haired
ladies?"