The Evening post. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1888-1889, 1888-12-22
HAIR DYEING A DEADART
MEN DON'T BLACKEN THEIR HAIR
AND wHIsKERs now.
Men Arc Not So Ashamed of showing
Their Age as They We're Formerly
The Pernioious Effects OF Using Dyes
What the Latest Fad Is - The Red
Headed Girl Has the Call Now.
From me PaRadelpaia Times.


afternoon, and, walking up to Barber
Bach, said so low that none of the Gus.
toners in the shop heard him:
DO you dye hair here2"
Barber Bach shook his head and said:
Haven't for eight years"
The mans hair was dark pink and
his mustache was mixed with pink and
white hairs The man was walking
photograph of the fop of fifteen years
ago, when it was fashionable TO wear
dyed hair and mustaches. He left the
shop rs quietly as he had entered. After
he was gone Barber Bach, who has been
tonsorial artist for fifteen years and
who has shaved most Of the prominent
men in town, said:
"That's the first customer I've had for
hair dyeing for many day. He's one
of the old timers. Ten years ago, when
worked at Seventh and Chestnut, it was
the fashion for men to dye their hair aud
mustaches In those days men were
ashamed of their gray hairs. think
there was greater display Of vanity
then than now Young men who were
prematurely gray were ashamed of gray
hairs, too; but it's considered just the
thing TO be prematurely gray now, and a
good many young men use powder and
cosmetics to make their black hair look
gray. 1t was fashionable for young men
who had puny mustaches to have them
dyed, so that the fuzz on their upper lips
would stand out in bold relief from their
faces.
''Hair dyeing is dead art. None of
the BARRIERS in the heart of the city keep
lhair dye nowadays It used to pay inn
Intensely and BARRIERS made lots Of money.
1,n;. a III
pb, and il took an hour or two to fix a
nan up. | know men who are as gray
as badgers now who used to get their
WIN spent all the money they could
scrape together outside of their living to
keep their hair and whiskers black.
But now a man who wants his hair
dyed would be ashamed to go TO o big
shop to have it done There are few
little shops where hair is dyed. Men go
there because nobody they know will see
them. No man who dyes his hair
imagines that any one knows his hair is
dyed. The big BARRIERS won't keep hair
dye any more. It's only nitrate of silver
and water. | used to use rain water.
had to wear gloves while dying hair, for
the constant application of the dye made
my hands sore. 1t ate into my fingers
and nearly poisoned me.
Il can name number of dead men
who were prominent in this city dozen
or fifteen years ago who died from the
effects OF hair dyes, and | know of others
who became insane. All hair dye is
poison, and will eventually poison a
mans whole system. If a man who
dyes his hair will put bright silver half
dollar in his trousers pocket and carry it
for month or two, the half dollar will
turn as black as ink, which shows that
the dye must affect his whole system.
Hair dye is to blame for hundreds Of
bald heads in this town to-day. The
dye kills the roots of the hair. 1t eats
into the flesh too. If man with n
dyed mustache were to shave off his
mustache there would be pink streak
across his upper lip that would not dis
appear for months. OF course, it is not
as fashionable now to dye hair as it used
to be, but still | believe there would be
lots OF it done, only that men have
found out through the fate of others that
| hair dye is ruinous to the system. 1t
takes man of great mental and physi-
cal strength to stand the effects of hair
dye. am glad that hair dyeing is no
longer part of the barber business.
always felt that was helping to hurry q
man to his grave when / was dyeing his
| hair.
The latest fad is bleaching mustaches.
BARRIERS don't do it. Men buy the
bleach and apply it at home. 1t is done
mostly by young men. You can see lots
of young men to-day with dark brown
hair who have lovely blonde mustaches.
| The bleach makes the mustache streaked
in lines of gold and light brown. The
girls like blonde mustaches. Black
mustaches, even of the simon-pure sort,
have lost favor.
MEN with fiery red mustaches use
bleach nowadays. Not all men with red
mustaches, but great many. You
won't see near so many red mustaches
now as you could have seen year ago.
You'll see man with head of red hair,
while his mustache will be lovely tint
of old gold. The bleach is just as inju
rious as the black hair dye. A good
many men with red boards use the
bleach, too. A blonde beard is very
fashionable nowadays The ordinary,
everyday observer isn't likely to detect
a bogus blonde beard or mustache, but
barber who knows his business can tell
them every time.
"The edheaded girl has had to suffer
| q good deal about that chestnut which
connects her hair with the white horse,
but that's played out now. d-haired
girls, unless their hair is fiery red, have
the call at the present time. That's the
reason red-headed girls don't resort to
the bleach-bottle.. There are more bogus
blondes in Philadelphia to-day than there
ever were. can point out hundreds of
them on Eighth street every day. In
time they will feel the effects of the
bleach. Anything that will change the
natural color of the hair must necessarily
act upon the roots of the hair.
Hundreds npon hundreds of women
whose hair is naturally brown are
incorporating to-day as blondes. | can
tell bogus blonde the moment see one.
In order 10 keep the hair from assuming
its natural color the bleach has to be APP
piled at least once month. Every
woman who uses bleach is shortening
her own life and running her hair. The
practice of bleaching the hair is not con
fined to any particular class of women.
In New York, at the present time, there
is much more of IT done than In Philade-
phia, and there are establishments there
that employ women to apply the bleach.
These places are coming money"
Speaking OF vanity, Barber Bach said:
''The place to hold the mirror up to ma
ture is in barber shop, either where