St. Landry democrat., 1888-05-26
WIGS AND QUEUES.
How the Hair Was Worn in the Days of
Our Ancestors.

How the Hair Was Worn in the Days o
| Our Ancestors.
A stvle of elaborate hair-dressln9
adopted in the reign of George II. fal
surpassed that of any previous age and
increased a number Of years III mon
strosity, rising "Alp upon Alp on the
head to Il height of nearly three feet.
OF course, no human hair could cover
Il cushion as tall as this and proper
tionately wide; the monstrous curls and
rolls, were,. therefore, chiefly false,
and additionally trimmed with ''ten
yards O: ribbon horse hair. wire,
ropes of beads, lace, artificial flowers,
| immense plumes of oStrich feathers
jewels and scarfs of gauze, as well as
other ornaments, and-the acme OF
bad taste-models in glass ships,
horses and chariots. caterpillars, lit
ters of pigs, etc. 1t took several hours
to build one of these temples of vanity,
or, as it was termed, ''abominable
fabric.' and the operation being eNpcn-
sive, one such ''dressing'' in week or a
fortnight was all that many ladies
could afford
To Judge from the pictures on their
palace walls and in their tomhs the As
syrians and Egyptians must have given
ample employment to the hair-dress-
ers. The rows of figures, stiff with
curls, represent adornment which it
must have taken many hours to build
up; and the wigs taken from several
high born Egyptians exhibit skill. In
Ninevah, at all events, artists in hair
Gas they are denominated by the po-
likeness of the French) must have been
i'll great request, for no man, among q
nation of warriors, could or would
have had the patience to curl not only
his locks but his beard daily for him
self. The trade evidently tiourished,
once that luxury was established.
Gentlemen who wore hair-powder
in the last century let their hair grow
behind and collected it into what was
called queue, tied around with black
ribbon, and left to hang over the collar
of the coat. The hair-dressers had
enough to do in taking care of these
queues, and. while the fashion lasted,
in powdering the hair The British
navy, from the Lord High Admiral to
the cabin boy, and the British army,
from the Field Marshal to the smallest
fifer; wore queues. In 1895 hair-pow-
der disappeared for good, in conse-
quence of Mr.. Pitts tax upon it.
Hair-powder at one time yielded 81
900, 600 per annum to the public reve-
nue..
In ancient times fully as much pains
were bestowed on dressing the beard
as at a later date was devoted to the
hair No belle spent more time under
the manipulation of her hair-dresser
than the possessor of the flowing
beard. 1t was dyed to all colors, ac-
cording to the prevailing style. Not
infrequently it was braided with
threads of gold. 1t was cut to all
shapes, braided and curled, and cher
ished as Heavens choicest gift to man;
it was regaled daily with rose water
costly incense was offered up to it.
In the reign of Henry VIII. each
man wore his beard as indicative of his
pursuits. The churchman wore long
beard and mustache that flowed on the
breast. This was known as the cathe-
dral beard. The soldier wore the spade
beard and the stiletto beard. Falstaff
speaks of himself as having "a great
round beard like a glover's pairing
knife"
The readers of Nicholas Nickleby"
must have a pleasing remembrance of
the hair-dresser in that story, who con-
descended to relieve a baker of his
beard, but declined to accon modate a
hirsute coal-heaver in the same man
ner, declaring that he had to ''draw the
line somewhere, and could not 90 be-
yond bakers.
False hair was used by the Roman
women. Martial ridicules one of the
sex, who, in her agitation at visit
from her lover, put on her false hair
upside down. = Chicago Nesos.