The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1889-01-24
WHEN YOUR HAIR DROPS OUT.
All About the Wig You Wear and
How 1t is Made
From the Ne,o York Sun.


From the Net0 York Sun.
There is more poetry and romance woven
into the history of an auburn wig, more
tender sentiment twisted into the traditions
of blonde toupee, than the bald-headed
man VIII wears them ever dreamed of. The
soft locks that shelter his poll from the
draught that chills aud the migratory fly
| that fain would choose his shiny pate for
| the scene of it's revels and wanderings on oe
waved above the bright eyes of some fair
German peasant maiden or saucy, sparkling
| Norman lasSe who bartered them for a
| trinket of gold or silver for her Sabbath
| day adjoining Just why these peasant
women possess such abundant tresses has
| never yet been satisfactorily explained, but
| the foreign women, particularly the French
! and German who toll in the fields, shielded
from the sun only by the small close cap
| which covers their hair but does not shade
! their faces, invariably have beautiful, fine,
| soft hair, and it is from them that all the
! best hair in the market is obtained, IN the
| following manner: Most of the women
have too much hair to be covered entirely
| by the close cap without being so tightly
braided or twisted as to be uncomfortable.
| Accordingly the itinerant hair buyer fills
| his pockets and pack with bright ribbons,
| fine caps, beads and trinketS. and wanders
| through the fields where the women work
| When the noon-tide lu lch has been eaten he
| spreads his tempting wares beneath some
| Sheltering tree, and the shy, bright-eyed
lassies steal up timidly and pick out the
brooch or long earrings or pretty ribbons
| for their Sunday cap for Which they long,
| then snatch off the little caps from their
| hair, unbraid and shake out all its shining
| be uty for the peddler's inspection, and
| when bargain is made they sit down on
| the ground while he carefully ships out here
md CO
never missed. Usually girl sells about
| half her hair, but if it be very heavy two
| thirds of it is sometimes cut out, leaving
the remainder long and smooth, to be
| braided up with no trouble and wound
about her head. Pure white hair is most
expensive, because extremely rare. A
woman old enough to have white hair has
usually very little left. and that is short,
| yellow at the ends, and split and broken.
| After this, the yellow blonde hair is most
difficult to find auburn hair, and what
hair-dressers designate as drab shades
| Occasionally poor women go into the hair
dresser's establishments in this city and
offer tresses for sale, but this seldom hap
pens, for it is a lamentable fact that Ameri-
| can women have less hair than those of any
| other people, and that more bald men are
| found here than elsewhere. The cause for
tlis is unknown and if it could be discov
| cred together with a remedy for the same,
| the wig-maker's occupation would be gone,
| and the discoverer would know how it feels
TO be a millionaire.
| Among the lace-makers in France, where
women weave the rearest and most delicate
| frost-like faces on a cushion with pins and
| b jbbins. there is a guild of workers who
wind their bobbins with fine white hair in
stead of thread, and tossing it in and out
over the pins, weave web-llke Brussels net
| of hair instead of floss. A piece of this beau
| IN forms n
dalton ( the wig. into which is tied the hair,
| a single hair in mesh of the lace along the
pa ting, and two or three hairs in place
all over the resi- of the wig. Its woman's
| deft, skillful fingers that do this fine work,
| OF course, by means of a tiny needle no
| larger than the slimmas5 cambria needle for
| sewing, with al inhniteSimal hook at the
| tip scarcely visible to the naked eye. A
| wig maker has as many wooden blockheads
| as q shoemaker has lasts, and upon one of
| these the wig foundation is carefully fitted
| and fastened while the hair is tied in, and
| over this block woman bends two whole
weeks to make a single wig, with tuft of
| hair in her lett hand into which the needle
| flies, catching invariably only the number
of hairs required, about 100 time in an
| hour.
The art of wig making is dignifed with
| the most ancient of histories. There Is
| perlwig in tie British museum of Egyptian
| origin supposed to be 1900 years old, and
| Xelophon mentions that Astyages wore an
! immense wig. Roman emperors supplied the
! lack Of natural hair with artificial substi-
tutes, the wig of the Emperor Commo9us
| being highly perfumed and sprinkled with
gold dust and even the South Sea Islanders
understand th5 art Of wig Aking. After
| the decline of the popular fashion OF Louis
| XIIl's establishment, that no gentleman
| could appear without a wig, wigs were
rarely worn at ALL because they we're SO
crudely fashioned as to deceive no one as
| TO their PURPOSE but Mr. Rouchfuss, the
| oldest wig maker in the city, asserts that
there is now a revival of the custom and
continually increasing demand for wigs and
| toupees; though this is not noticeable, be-
| cause there are so many more bald-headed
men than formerly that the percentage of
wig -wearers is small and wigs are 50 cum
ningly made as to defy detection Physi-
| clans frequently recommend the wearing OF
wigs as a preventative of or cure for ca
| tarrh and neuralgia and influenza. "Al
| kinds of people wear them" Mr.. Rouchfuss
asserts. from the fastldious man of unlim-
| tied means, who buys a new wig costing $50
| or $50 as often as once month, TO the man
who only can afford one once year, and
| then takes wig that some fussy man has
| discarded after once or twice wearing be-
cause the color didn't please him or some
| thing in the style didn't quite suit. These
we sell cheaper, like the insists in the tailors,
establishments; but we never make any real
| mstits.n
"How often does any one need a new
wigi'
"Once in three or six months, according
to the care they give it. People with wigs
are Just as they are with clothing. Some
men will wear suit and look dressed IN IL
when YOU can see your face in tue back OF
the coat and carry valise on the knees OF
! the trousers 1t is the neat way they put
| it on, and the care they give it. JUST so
with wig. | have customer out west,
military man. who is away there among
he Indians, sleeping in tent most OF tne
time, and with most inconvenient arrange