The Evening post. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1888-1889, 1888-12-08
TRADING IN HUMAN HAIR.
Tho Greatest Market L. in Southwestern
France.

france,
from GdiiGUdbis Messcnger
There is human hair market at Nor.
lans, In the department Of the lower Py- |
renees 1t is little known except, per.
haps, in Paris, where it has high ropu-
totion. Tho market Is held every other
Friday. Hundreds of trafIicking hair
dressers throng to the little place from
far and near to buy up the hair Of the
young peasant girls. The dealers wander
up and down the long narrow street of
the town, each with huge pair of bright
shears hanging from a black leather strap
around his waist, while the young girls
who wish to part with their hair stand
about in the doorways, usually in
couples. The transaction is carried on
in the best room in the house
The hair is let down, the tresses
combed out, and the dealer names the
price. This varies from three to twenty
francs lf bargain Is struck, the dealer
lays the gum in the open palm Of the sci
Ter, applies his shears and In minute the
long tresses fall on the floor The pur-
chaser rolls up the tresses, places them
In paper and thrusts them into his pocket
OF course q maiden can rarely see her
fallen tresses disappear into the Dealers
pocket without crying, but she consoles
herself with the thought that 1t will grow
again and by looking at the money in
her hand.
There Is ut present scarcity of fancy
human hair in the market. The scarcest
| hair is pure white, and its value is con-
| stantly increasing; and If il is unusually
long--that Is, from to fect--the dealer
can get almost his own price, while If 1t
| Is OF ordinary length IL is worth from $40
francs to 800 francs (El5 to G20) an
ounce. The fact that pure white hair is
the court coiiIure throughout Europe
keeps the demand for II very high 1t Is
much priced by American women whose
own hair is white and who desire to en-
rich its folds, for white hair is held to
give certain distinction to the wearor
There Is no fancy market for gray hair;
II Is too common. 1t is used to workinto
wigs OF persons who arc growing old.
What is described as golden hair is
either a wnshed.out pale red or dull
blonde. The gold color so much valued
has no relation to red hair, ex cept the
vividness of its coloring. The demand
for the virgin gold color Ia great in the
capitals Of Europe A woman who gets
a coiifure of IL Is considered fortunate.
There are four type colors of hair-white,
blonde, black and brown-and each OF
these have been subdivided into sixteen
different shades. The commonist types
of these are brown and black, and these
are cheap.
Golden brown is much In favor, as Is
pure black, or what is called blue. black.
Next TO pure white hair the demand |:
for hair of the color of virgin gold
There are many braids made of hair col
ored TO meet the demand with certain
preparations, but they prove unsatis
factory. Many foolish women hay,
sought to change the color of their owl
tresses, but they have uniformly repentet
the attempt. A fine suit Of hair Of th
purest blond type will sell from l,00t
francs to 2 900 francs (e40 to Gl00). 1t l
said that the Empress Engenic paid 00
francs GAO on ounce for braid of colder
hair that exactly matched her own.
A woman's hair may grow to TIN
length Of six feet. Nine. Hess of Pari
refused 5000 francs for her "cranial GOV
ering" which was that measurement
Four hundred hairs of average thickncs
would cover an inch of space. TIL
blonde belle has about 100000 tilament
to comb and brush, while the red-hairet
beauty has TO be satisfied with $4,000
! the brown haired damsel may have 100,
900, the black haired but 1900.
y Few ladies consider that they carr
e some forty or fifty miles of hair on thei
, head the fair-haired may even have {
' dress seventy miles of threads of go
every morning. A German exper
8 mentallst has proved that single hal
5 will suspend four ounces without brcal
ing, stretching under the process an
contracting again. But the hair thu
e heavily weighted must be dark browI
n for blonde hair breaks down under tw
aud one.half ounces.
). AS regards to the wig trade, the mos
y expensive wigs, arc, of course. pun
white and the virgin gold color
young Brooklyn lady of much beaut
Ii possesses a splendid wig of the latte
n kind, which she CHANGED to find in
/, shop at Nice. She was blonde, bl
O had a scanty supply of dull hair, II d
not take her an instant to decide to ha'
her hair cut short and To wear the wiu