The Middlebury register and Addison County journal. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1883-1885, 1884-05-30
INJURIOUS TO THE HAIR.
THE AMERICAN CLIMATE SAID TO
CAUSE BADNESS.
destructive Tnnuen &c OF the wca, h CT
ON the Capillary Growth
wigs arc Made Of--AII About Hair.

porter among some of the leading dealers
in hair goods led to the revelation that
the alarming fact was generally recog
nized among those who cater to the de-
mands of fashion in the matter of false
hair, that the growth of the hair was in
jured by the climate of this country.
eyes" said an extensive importer,
''this weather is snatching us bald
headed Just as fast as it knows how,
and | hate to think of what will be the
fate of the native American a hundred
| thousand years hence. The noble red
man, if he has not been exterminated by
that time, will have to skirmish around
pretty lively to get a scalp.
mo, l cannot say how it is that the
climate has such an effect on the hair
1t may be that the Anglo-Sa race is
not yet thoroughly acclimated. At any
rate, American women as a class have
not the luxuriant hair European women
! have. Emigrants, too, who arrive with
splendid heads of hair, in from five to
ten years have but few rat tails, figura-
lively speaking. to boast Of A proof of
the destructive influence of the climate
on the hair is furnished by the increasing
sale of wigs. There never was such a
! demand for wi gs as at present. Human
! beings arc not alone affected in this way
The sheep that bear the finest grades Of
wool are also injuriously affected in this
| climate The wool loses its lustre, and
in time it becomes diminished in guam
| tity, so that the animals, after few
! years residence in America, find their
way into the butchers shop before they
have an opportunity of getting tough
enough for a boarding house table. 1t
is an ill wind that blows nobody good
"Wherc, then, do you get the hair
from that forms the head pieces, switches,
etc, that are the staple of your bust
ness7' asked the reporter.
Europe and China"
"China9 Why, thought the ecclesi-
astial laws of that country forbade the
Mongolian to part with his hirsute adorn-
ments. The queue there is supposed to
! be as sacred as the cat in Egypt or the
monkey in India-or the pig in Gin
! cinnati.'
"Young man" said the merchant in
hair, 81 will gladly give you any infor,
nation | can in relation to my business
but if you persist in firing scientific prob
lens at me l shall have to plead another
engagement"
"Well, then, to what base uses do you
apply the sacred Chinese pigtail"
eff by that You mean the Chinese hair,
/ it is a coarse article from which we fab
ricate the cheapest headpeccs, switches,
etc. Langtry bangs made of Chinese
hair will retail for seventy-tive cents and
upward, and Chinese hair switches
realize from two to four dollars. They
are not, however, very substantial, as
the process the hair has to undergo in
order to render it salable makes it
! brittle"
SIS there any danger of importing
leprosy or other contagious diseases in
/ the hair from Chinaln
" cannot say that there is no danger
to the importer of the raw material, so to
speak; the manufactured article passes
through a chemical process before it is
made up that destroys all the germs of
disease. No, there is no danger to thu
consumer.
Where do you get your better quality
of capillary tissue from ~
! ''From Europe principally The dark
hair from France and Spain, light brown
and auburn hair from Germany, and al
colors from England. The Anglo Saxon
mixture of races produce a crop hetero
genous in color.
Chow do merchants in Europe ge. pos
session of the hair 2"
''They have travelling agents who &c
from village to village and bargain with
rustic beauties for their tresses. Peasan,
maidens, with wealth of hair, are in tho
habit of selling it and purchasing with
the proceeds articles of tinery so dear tc
the female heart. OF course with shorr
heads they have tom-boy appearance,
for time, but nature soon supplies the
deficiency"
"Do American girls ever sell their hail
when in need of money with which tc
buy fictitious aids to adornment 2"
every seldom. During an experience
of twenty years | have not purchase
more than dozen heads of hair direc
from women upon whose heads the hail
has grown. The only portion of this con
tinent where women sell their hair is il
the Canadian Provence of Quebec
There the rural population is mostly made
up of French Inhabitants, and the Gus
toms of old France are strictly observed
by those people. The hair dealer still
plies his trade there American womer
will not sell this element of female beauty
They must be reduced to alb rect povert,
before they will barter this Inheritance o
nature"
GLOW much can woman procure fol
good head of hair2"
"The prices vary according to color
Red hair is worth very little, and dark
| brown hair and black are very valuable
Light auburn is rare commodity.
good head of auburn or black hair i.
worth from $40 to $25. The texture anC
quantity regulate the price"
us hair cut from a person in the de
lirium of an infectious fever valuable2"
ooh, yes; but whenever hair i
brought to us already cut from the head
it is disinfected before anything is donc
with it. We have to dye gray and red
hair, but dyed hair is not as valuable a
hair of natural color"
"What are the prevailing modes in
| moi 10 Il