Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1889-07-14
MANY TONS OF HAIR.
Annually Imported Into this City for the
Use of Ladies' Where it Comes from.
The Markets of the World Where the Women
Stand and Sell Their Glossy Tresses
to the Dealers.
New York Star.

|
feminine portion of the city, with one OF
two exceptions, viii be minus a certain
quantity of their luxurious tresses, or pay
much higher price for them. There
| facts about the human hair as
an article of traffic. It will I'M
doubtedly astonish most people to
what extent the trade is carried onto
| be told, for Instance, that London alone
imports annually between seven and
eight tons. The supply does not de-
| pend upon chance clippings, or upon the
barber's scissors, but their is a regular
hair harvest, which can confidently be
looked forward to by dealers at a par
ticular time. AS there are different
markets for black tea and green tea, so
there is a light haired market from a
dark haired. Like clothes, the demand
for certain color of hair is regulated
iEaccording to style, which, without ex-
I eeption, runs III conformity with COM
| pIexion
1t has been noticed by scientists and
doctors that dark hair is more common in
the Eastern and Middle states than in the
| West, and it is the prevailing color in
our Southern states, especially in Louisi-
ana and Mississippi, in which the French
element is conspicuous. 1t is the same
in Cuba which is peopled by the Spanish
In some of the Northern states, where
tsSwedes, Germans, Norwegians and Irish
are numerous, fair or light hair prevails
and corresponds with the more exquisite,
susceptible and emotional dispositions
found in connection Herewith.
The civilized world uses actually over
one million pounds yearly and the ques-
ton naturally arises, where does it all
come from? To answer this question,
and also to learn the minute particulars
of the enormous traffic in the beautiful
locks, a Star reporter visited the parlors
of well-knOwn metropolitan hair dealer
sSdn West Fourteenth street. .
''You will be surprised, and it will
doubtless astOnish many people, he
said, ito learn the dimensions of the
hair trade as it is now carried on. New
York merchants annually import froms
four to five tons, while London excels
ours in its importation by some three
tons. AS in other business, there is a.
hair harvest and a certain time to lo6Rs
forward to for a good crop. This MY
seem strange, but it is really fact. We
have our own market for the diff.
ferent shades of hair, as with any OtHez
commodity. The light hair Is exclusive
ly German product. 1t is cOlleefed bys
the agents of a Dutch company, whas
visit New York and other American cff5es
annually for orders Until fifty years
ago light hair was esteemed above all
others. One peculiar golden tint was so
supremacy priced that the dealers only
produced it for favorite customers, to
whom it was sold for s shillings an ounce
'EPure black hair, which now is all
the go among fashionable people, is i'm
ported chiefly from Brittany and the
South of France, where it is yearly COLI
lected by the agents of a few wholesa9es
Partisan houses, of whom we buy. The
average crop Of black hair harvested by
these firms amounts yearly to upward of
three hundred pounds IN weight. The
price paid for each head of hair ranges
from one to five francs, according
to its weight and beauty; the former
seldom rises above a pound and seldom
falls below twelve ounces. The timer
ant desires are always provided with an
extensive assortment of ribbons, silks,
laces and cheap jewelry of all kinds,
with which they make their purchases as
frequently as with money. They attend
all the fairs and merry markings within
their circuit, and the singularity and
novelty of their operations are apt to
strike travellers more than anything else
which meets their notice.
While in Europe recently I attended
one of these fairs simply for the novelty
of the thing. l was indeed struck by
what 1 saw. There were four purchas-
ers of the commodity present and the
girls actually brought the article to this
impromptu market as they would peas or
cabbages. They have particularly
fine hair and frequently in great
abundance. l should have thought
at the time that female
vanity would have effectually prevented
such traffic among them being carried
on to any great extent. But there
seemed no difficulty in finding possessors
of beautiful heads of hair perfectly will
ling to sell. I saw several girls sheared,
one after another, like sheep, and as
many more standing ready for the shears,
with their "caps' in their hands and
their long hair combed out aud hanging
down to their waists Some of the oper-
atOrs were men, some women. By the
side of the dealers was placed long bas-
ket, into which every successive crop of |
hair, tied up into a wisp by itself, was
thrown. AS far as personal beauty is
concerned, the girls do not lose much ID |
their hair, for it has been a custom in |
Brittany for years to wear close cap, |
which entirely prevents any part of the |
chevelure from being seen, and of course |
as totally conceals the want of it.
Ozark brown hair was the fashion |
once. It is all imported here from
France. 1t is the opinion of those who
have the best right to offer one on such
subject that the color of the hair of the
English people has deepened in tint
within the last half century,
and that this change is owing to
the more frequent intermarriages
since the Napoleonic wars with nations
nearer to the Sunny South. Whether
dark or light, however, the hair pur-
chased by the dealer is so closely serutin-
zed that he can discriminate between
German and the French article by the
smell alone. He even claims the power
IF distinguishing accurately between4fse
English, the Welsh, the Irish and the
American commodities. The Freneh
dealers are said to be able to de-
ect the difference between
he hair ''raised' in two dist
riots in central France not many miles L