Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1884-04-11
Hair By the Ton.

. aakr Dy tne 10ns
"Human hair goods are worn moro
now than they ever were." said Bos-
ton dealer who does Q large business in
such articles. aAll classes of ladies
wearit-young. middle aged, and old =
some for use, but more Tor ornament.
Men wear wigs only when they cannot
help it Women wear false hair to add
10 their charms, Short hair is in de-
nand now, In the form of Lisbon and sea
loan waves and frizzes. and the favoritA
color is chestnut brown. The golden
shade, 50 much in fashion few years.
ago. has fallen so per cent in price
There Is great deal of competition, and
all kinds of hair goods are cheaper than
they used to be. Switches, especially
can be had at low price. Ladies form
erly paid $15 TO $40 for good one, bul
they can get an extra nice style at from
$5to $10to-day."
!; Where does the supply of artificial
hair come froma"
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.
It is not the hair of dead persons, as
many imagine. but comes from the
heads of living peasant women and
girls. 1t is gathered by peddlers. who
buy 1t for q trihe--a silk kerchief OF
some other triflewhich pleases the fancy.
1t Is taken to Paris and sold to manu-
facturers, who assert 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. Twill open one. There, you
see the form in which it comes. Little
rolls, which I pull 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 as
sorted into lengths and shades. 1t isthe
cheapest kind of hair. Dealers pay
from S6 to .S12 n dozen for the switches,
and sell them at 81 and % each. We
get 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 year. 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'--tha is,
girls who have their hair cut for sale
every four years"
"What is the most expensive kind Of
hair?"
Natural silver white, like this, Is
worth $18 or $50 an ounce; so, You see,
1t Is worth more than its weight in gold,
Bleached white hair is worth only IS an
ounce. from $5 to $50 pound, except
the hair collected by rag pickers, which
brings only from 81 to s.. The value
of different colors of hair depends on
the fashion. Yellow hair, not golden,
is almost useless to us. sa
II suppose there have been great i'm
provements in your art of late years?"
Eyes, indeed. You could tell the
old-fashioned wig mile off. but now i
can make wig which will defy detec-
ton. A great many top pieces are worn
by men-like this"
Here the hair dealer, greatly to TIE
surprise of the reporter, lifted up what
was to all appearance the natural hair
on top of his own head, and disclosed
Uranium as bare as billiard ball
Now" said be, "here is what we
call the Lisbon wave for ladies 1t is in
the fashionable shade, but it is worn
over natural hair of any color and
wholly conceals it. A great deal of
care is required to make a good wig.
The hairs have to be drawn through
meshes one by one where the parting is
and at that part the meshes are made of
white hair woven in pieces of different
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 800 worth. A good wave costs
from 30 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
% cents to Sc each. Do make false
eyebrowsp Sometimes, but it is hard
to do good work with them so that they
cannot be detected. do not make false
mustaches for dudes.
IL suppose you sell a good many light
eolored waves to dark haired ladies?''
'.Ah, you may see many a 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 in style,
though to keep one 'on the GO all the
dime. boston Globe.