The morning news., 1888-05-11
WIGS AND THE wIGMAKERs.
How Actors and Actresses Make Up
for tho Stage.
From tie Ne,o York GraDhic.

around and buy this halr from the peasants,
in much the same way that agents from the
great glove manufacturers go about buying
Rid skins in small lots and with a careful
consideration of quality in each case. Then
there are the smaller firms that buy their
hair in the natural state and clean and pre-
mare if for the retail dealers--that is wig
makers, wave-makers, etc. OF all these
various branches far the most interesting is
that Of the theatrical wigmaker Not only
is everything about the stage tinctured with
a special spice of romance to the public, but
in high class theatrical work there is great
deal of artistic perception and execution of
10 mean order.
Hair is much cheaper than it used to be.
Two reasons can be assigned for this; first,
more peasants grow their hair for the mar
Ket than used to, and second, false hair is
very much less used.
1t is notmany years since several switches
and number of curls, frizzes and fronts con-
stituted part of the equipment of
every woman, young and old, in the land.
Now a few old tabbies wear waves,
and occasionally some girl who has been
recklessly running her hair by bleaching is
forced for a time into a wig, but most
women don't own piece of false hair. 1t
is not that our hair is any better than our
mothers, but that it is now fashionable to
wear such an amount of hair as nature
usually furnishes, and it used to be imper-
ative that every woman should uphoster
her head with enough stuff to fill mat
tress. The consequence is that switch
to take a single instance-that use to cost
S25 can now be bought for S..
FALSE HAIR NOT UNCLEANLY.
No one need be afraid of false hair bought
from house of good standing on the score
of cleanliness. The peasants that sell their
r,,Y,ob nlaa how IA
for their own tastes, because it thus grows
better and of a better quality. Then the
dealers who sell it to the manfacturers-the
manufacturers, that is, the people who
make it.up into wearing shape, and the retail
dealers are one-these dealers put it through
a process that would clean an elephants
hide There are in New York number of
firms dealing in what we call for conve-
nience raw hair. Their backwards look
like drying ground of Indian trophies
Each suit of hair is kept to itself and
washsd and dried separately, and in cases
wheI2 it is died this is the place where it
llndelt loes that process. The hair of the
dead is never used. 1t is worthless Tor COM
mercial purposes, not curling or even twist
ing well, There is a curious prejudice
among the retail dealers not easily ex-
planned against buying hair. from the head
or from private hands. The good firms
could hardly be persuaded on any terms to
buy the hair of the suffering heroine who
in novels so frequently parts with her glori-
Gus locks, though if it happened that her
locks were snow white and curly or even
blonde and curly, they might be brought
to consider the opportunity. Perfectly
white hair is rare and commands almost
any price, and curly hair comes higher in
any color. Most of the white hair sold is
not human hair at all. theatrical white
wigs are not of human hair. The best of
them are made of the hair of the Angora
rabbit, and much of it comes from goats
A very fine wig that Myers, the great the
atrical wigmaker, made for Rose Coghlan.
in the part of Lady TeaZle, nearly ten years
ago, cost her $50, which was considered an
extraordinary price; but if that wig had
been made of human hair it would have
cost at least 81 600 Miss Coghlan still
wears this wig-the many pictures of her
in white wig are all taken in it. She has
had it dressed number Of different ways.
of course.
ACTORS WHO ARE SKETCHERS
Myers has had to do with nearly all the
theatrical celebrities of the last twenty-five
years, His place ON Fourth avenue is lined
with photographs and other souvenirs We
produce to-day some pictures more inter
esting than photographs. These are the
ohOIOhCo VI OOSoh ny OAlC dSGOlS W SHOW
Myers what they want to look like in a par
ticular part. A number of them are drawn
by the men themselves. Weldon Gros-
smith, for instance, who was such favorite
for several seasons in Rosina Vokes' COM
pany, is professional painter as well as an
actor, and the superb pen and ink head to
which his name is attached is his own work,
showing the effect he wanted in wig that
he had made by Myers to take away with
i'm fn1r NnraNI IasA Arw IL
He further paid the New York magnate
the compliment of having him make him
up for the part once That is why he has
taken such pains with the fine lining, the
Character of the face. Putting the effect
desired before Myers, the two men then laid
their heads together to obtain it on Mr..
Grossmith's own countenance, and thev
were entirely successful. Those that re-
member Mansfield in the part of the Lord
chancellor mo @lolanthe," or as the Baron
In the "Parisian Romance,n u will realize how
accurately this work is done when they
compare their recollection of him with
these sketches made beforehand. Mans
held, too, is something of a draughtsman,
though not attempting much in the way of
painting, and this sketch was made by him
self, as were the several others on the page
of him in different parts.
You see, the actors don't need to give Mr..
myers every OoUdll OI every 1alf OF the
wigs they want. They aim at showing him
the artistic character of the appearance
they wish to present, and he is fully able to
carry out them ideas with the fullest SYM
pathy. The bead that the late John How
son n ade of bis wonderful caricature of
Talmage, which was Myers guide in max
ing the wlg and which is reproduced among
the other heads to-day, was cut from col
ored cartoon in Puck.
SOME ACTRESSES METHODS.
Miss Annie Clarke's Portia wig shown here
was made, while she was at the Boston
Museum, and afterward worn during her
engagement with Booth. American actors,
and especially American actresses, wear
wigs much more than foreigners. Ellen
Terry almost never wears wig. Sarah
Bernhardt never, while Adah Rehan, Rose
Coghlan, Fanny Davenport and Clara Nor
rls appear oftener in them than out of
them. Sara Jewett used to take the palm
for the natural look of her wigs. She took
the greatest pains with them, varying the
color according to her apprehension of the
character she was doing, and always re-
dressing them herself Within the last few
years Ada. Rehan has become equally skill
ful IN the, manipulation of her wigs. She,
TOO . SeSmot appear in her own hair once
In tiSs yesrs. These ladies say that the
great secret of natural-looking wigs is to
nave as little hair on them as possible This
is Just the opposite of the idea of the novice,
who thinks the more hair the more cost, and
the more cost the better wig.