The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1888-07-11
WIGS AND WIGMAKERS.
SOME FACTS CONCERNING THE
TRADE IN HUMAN HAIR.

Peasants Who Grow Hair for the Market.
False Hair Not UncIeaniy- Of the
Dead Never Usod--A Curious PreJu.
dice.
There are number Of ,departmentsfn the
hair trade. To begins at the beginning.
there are the continental peasants that
grow hair as one Of their regular
crops. A crop takes about six yearf
TO mature. Then there are the pgenta
for the great hrmss that 60 around and
buy this hair from, the peasants, In much
the same way that agents from the great
glove manufacturers 20 sabout buying KID
skins in small lots and with a careful con,
sideration of quality in each case. Then
there are the smaller firms that buy their
hair In the natural state and clean and pre-
pare it for the retail dealers--that Is, wig
makers, "waven makers, etc. OfsalI these
various branches far theimost interesting Is
that of the theatrical swigmaker. Not only
Is everything about the stage stinctured with
- special spice OF romance to the pubaic,shuA
in.high class theatrical worlrthere is asgreat
deal OF artistic perception and execution Of
no mean order
Hair is much cheaper than IL used to be.
Two reasons can bes assigned for this, first,
more peasants grow stheirs hair for market
than used to, and second, false hair is very
much less used.
1t Is not many years since several switches
and numbers of curls, frizzes and. fronts con-
stituted part of the equipment of every
woman, young and old, In thesland. How !
few old tabbies wear waves, and occasionally
some girl who has beens recklessly running
her hair by bleaching 2is forced fors a. time
into wig, but most women don't4ownaa
piece OF false hair. Tits notethat our hair IL
any better than our mothers, but thatitis
now fashionable to wear such an amount of
hair as nature usually furnishes, and itused
10 DC Imperative tthatsevery woman should
upholster her head with enough stuff. to fila
mattress. The consequencesis that switch
Ito take single instance that used to cost
Sc can now be bought for So.
FALSE HAIR .NorsuNc1EANLY.
No one need be afraidlofsfalse hair bought
from house Of good standing on the score
OF its cleanliness. The peasants that sell their
hair keep 1t much cleaner than they would
for their own tastes, because It thus grows
better and Of q better quality. Then the
dealers who sell 1t to the manufacturers the
manufacturers, that Is, the people who make
AZ Wy INV Wcta1iit6 sntaFcf anu inc retalk deal
ers 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 convenience raw
hair. Their back yards look like a driving
ground of Indian trophies.
Each suit of hair Is kept to itself and
washed and dried separately, and in cases
where it is dyed this Is the place where &c
undergoes that process The hair Of the dead
Is never used. 1t Is worthless for commercial
purposes, not curling or even twisting well
There Is a curious prejudice among the retail
dealers not easily explained 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 glorious locks, though IL 1t 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 ccsor.
Most of the white hair sold is not human hais.
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
IL comes from goats.--New York Graphic.