St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1886-11-06
rrx1NG HUMAN HAIR.
A Dealer Tells Why Women Part
with Their Greatest Adjournment.

~ Dealer Tells why ~e" OH
with Their Greatest Adjournment.
Kansas City Times.
is this the place where they buy cut hui
man hair, sir?"
1T is. Have you any to sellP'
Eyes. sir, have plat here. You can
see, sir, that it is my own hair. had
spell of sickness few weeks ago and the
doctor ordered my hair taken off. How
much is this worth?"
For hair like this we pay W per pound.
All the hairs are not the same length. and
Therefore this plat is not so valuable as it
would be if ii did not taper. This weighs
just three quarters of pound-S1.5O.
Really, sir, is that the most you can pay
for it? | thought l would get at least IS
for it, or would not have cut 1t OF"
This is the best can do for you. Ii
you are not satisfied you Will have to take
your hair away with you"
''Oh. shall take the dollar and half,
only it seems such little bit for all my
hair'
The foregoing is dialogue that occurred
in hair store the other day. between
young girl and the proprietor. The girl
was about nineteen years of age, neatly but
not extensively dressed. Hell hair had
been cut short and she carried the clip
ping in small caba. When she laid it out
on the showcase the dealer examined 1t very
closely and fixed the value. 1t was taper
ing plat of chestnut brown hair. about two
feet in length. After the girl had received
her money and left the store the proprietor
tossed the hair back of the counter, remark
ing: Poor girl! She's hard up. That is
an old story about a spell OF sick
ness and a doctor ordering her hair
cut. We hear that so often that we Sell
dom pay any attention to 1t now. The
truth is that great many girls finding
themselves in straitened circumstances sell
everything they have and finally decide to
part with their hair. Most of them are
girls of spirit and do not want to acknowl
edge their poverty, SO they tell the yarn
about being sick"
to call on you?"
''AIl sorts of people come here to sell
hair. Old women with gray hair, middle
aged women with mixed hair and young
women whose hair has not yet begun to
turn are classed among our clients. 1t is
not an infrequent occurrence for a man to
present woman's hair for sale. A man
has very little to say when he comes in the
store. He gives you the idea by his actions
that he is ashamed of his job. and wants to
get through with it as soon as possible. AS
a general thing he asks few questions. takes
what is offered and leaves"
What is the highest price you pay?"
''Ihree dollars per pound is the most l
pay. This price is only paid for hair that
is of uniform length, or what is called
club piece. 1t is not often that we get
club pieces. the majority being of the tap
ering character, such as the young girl sold
a short time ago."
Then yon think necessity often compels
women to sell their hair?"
Il know it to be fact. | have bought
hair from many girls whose faces have been
the picture of distress. Middle-aged and
elderly women have also been compelled by
poverty to sell their hair to obtain food for
their families. Of course this does not APP
ply to everybody. People who are in COM
Portable circumstances are sometimes COM
PEELED to have their hair cut and OCCASION
ally they sell it. As a rule. however, these
women have their hair made up for their
own USE"
Then after the hair of poor girls and
women is made up into bangs and switches
it is sold to any one who desires to buy"
''Just so. There are lots of women liv-
ing in fashionable quarters of the city who
wear the hair of young girls and middle
aged women that has been parted with by
the original owners only after the gnawing
pangs of hunger have driven them to it."