Delta chief., 1884-05-14

est quantity and best quality is from
France. 1t is not the hair of dead per
sons, as many imagine, but comes from
the heads of living peasant girls. 1t is
gathered by peddlers, who buy it for
trIfle-a silk handkerchief. or some
other triie which pleases the fancy. 1t
is taken to Paris and sold to manufac-
turers: who assort it in lengths and
shades for export b America and other
countries. Here are some boxes with
hair which has not yet seen light in
this country. will open one. There,
you see the form in which It comes.
Little rolls. which / put out so. and
you see what will be part of Lisbon
wave. That is the best quality of hair
There is also an inferior kind not
much used, which is gathered from
ash-barrels and dust heaps of Paris and
Italy, and assorted into lengths and
shades. 1t is the cheapest kind of hair
Dealers pay from Sc to II dozen for
the switches. and sell them at 81 and
- each We see some raw hair in
this country. but very little. 1t comes
nearly all from the nunneries. / do
not think there would be fifty pounds
of it in the half ton of hair which | buy
| in wear. There are some inferior
grades made by New York jobbers,
but all the good hair comes from
abroad. There are in France regular
hair-raisers that is, girls who have
their hair cut for sale every four
years
What is the most expensive hind of
hair?'
Natural silver white. like this, is
worth $40 TO $50 An ounce; SO you see
it is worth more than its weight in gold.
Bleached white hair is worth only s.
an ounce Natural hair or ordinary
shades is worth from 81 TO $50 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. iel-
low hair not golden is almost useless to
us"
Il suppose there have been great i'm.
provements made in your art of late
years."
Yes, indeed. You could tell the
old-fashioned wig a mile of. but now
can make wig that will defy detec-
ton. A great many top-pieces are
worn by men, like this.
Here the hair dealer. greatly TO the
surprise of the reporter, lifted up what
was to all appearance the natural hair
on the top of his head. and disclosed n
Uranium as bare as billisrdb ball.
Now" said he. here is what we
call the Lisbon wave for ladies. II is
in the fashionable shade, but il is worn
over natural Of any color, and wholly
conceals it, A great deal Of hair is re-
durcd 10 make good wig. The hairs
have to be drawn through meshes one
by one where the parting is, and at
that part the meshcs are made of white
hair woven in pieces of tiffercnt lengths
and widths. Here are some OF them.
A few thin packages lay in small
desk drawer. They looked like coarse
muslin.
There are $500 worth there, said
the dealer. You can shut your hand
on 500 worth. A good wave costs
from s. TO $50, according TO quality
and color. Ornaments for the hair in
latest stylc have Rhine stones in them
to sparkle at night. These cost from
twenty-five cents to sc each. Do /
make false eycbrows' Sometimes: but
IL is hard to do good work with them so
that they cannot be detected. l do
not make false mustachcs for dudes"
Il suppose YOU sell n good many
light ht-colored waves TO dark haired la
dicsP"
"Ah. YOU may see many pretty
blonde on the street with black ewes.
which she cannot hide. and black hair,
which she can. Fashion rules all.
Just now the color is medium brown,
but there are constant changes il style.
enough to keep one 'on the go all the
time