Herald and news. [volume] (West Randolph, Vt.) 1878-1943, 1889-01-31
WIG MAKING.
Facts of Interest About Counterfeit
Hirsute Coverings.


The are of wig making is dignified
with the most ancient of histories. There
is periwig in the British Museum of
| Egyptian origin supposed to be 1000
years old, and Xenophen mentions that
| Astyages wore an immense wig. Ro-
man Emperors supplied tho lack OF
natural hair with artificial substitutes,
| the wig of the Emperor Commodus be-
ing highly perfumed and sprinkled with
| gold dust; and even the South Sea Is
landers understand the art of wig max
ing. After the decline of the popular
fashion of Louis KILLS establishment.
that no gentleman could appear without
a wig, wigs were rarely worn at all, be-
cause they were 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
revival of the custom and q continually
increasing demand for wigs and toupees,
though this is not noticeable, because
there are so many more bald headed men
than formerly that the percentage of
wig wearers is small and wigs are so cum
ningly made as to defy detection. Ply
sicians frequently recommend the wear
ing of wigs as preventative of or cure
for catarrh and neuralgia and influenza.
"All kinds of people wear them" Mr..
Rouchfuss asserts, 'from the fastidious
man of unlimited means, who buys new
wig costing S25 or $50 as often as once
month, to the man who only can afford
one once year, and then takes wig
that some fnssy man has discarded after
once or twice wearing because the color
didn't please him or something in the
style didn't quite suit. These We sell
cheaper, like the insists in the tailors'
establishments; but we never make any
misfits."
"How often does any one need new
wig?"
'Once in three or six months, ac-
cording to the care they give it. Peo-
pie with wigs are just as they are with
clothing. Some men will wear a suit
and look dressed in it when you can
see your face in the back of the coat and
carry a valise in the knees of the trou-
sers. 1t is the neat way they put it on
and the care they give it. just so with
a wig. l have q customer out West, q
military man, who is away there among
the Indians, sleeping in tent most of
the time and with most inconvenient mr.
Judgements for the care of his clothing
and for toilet purposes. He buys a new
wig about once a year, and even then
the old one is as good as new, only that
il has faded. That's because he takes
care OF it. Then have customers here
in the city, hurried business men, who
jam on their wigs all in twist, crack
ing the paper OF the same time, and
al in fI,roa he th
them perfectly ruined. There's one
class of customers that never get wigs
in the wrong place or hurry too much in
their adjustment, and they are women.
Work or worry, fire or thieves, never
hustle woman into getting the parting
of her wig or ,oked or q single hair in an
unnatural place, but man will stick a
toupee on so that it will show streak
of badness between that and his hair
just for the sake OF catching car five
minutes earlier, and then come in here
and wonder why it doesn't fit"
Chow do you fasten on toupeesl"
"With peculiar preparation like
paste, which comes in long stick and
is hard until small piece is broken off
and worked in the fingers like putty.
Three or four of these pieces will fasten
C tccpee on so blizzard can't blow it
off, but il loosens easily with the fingers
when we wish to remove il.
"What is the most expensive wig
made Z"
GA pure white ventilated wig costs
$40 or $50, and a plain welt wig In a
color comes as low as SIS. Toupees
run from 80 to Sl5. OF course, ladies
wigs are more expensive, sometimes
going as high as 500, according to the
length and color Of the hair. But very
few ladies VICAR wigs, for there are so
many little devices by which women
conceal their lack of hair and they are
cunning enough in the arrangement of
the few tresses which they have to make
the most of them"
(Which are the hardest to please,
women or men
"There's very little difference. They
are both hard to please at first. They |
are accustomed to seeing little or no
hair, and anything we can make looks |
unnatural. Old wig wearers have their
particular hobbies, but they are easily |
satisfied. One of my customers wears a |
toupee that weighs four ounces, one
quarter of a pound you see, when q |
whole wig only weighs an ounce and a
quarter That's because he wore it |
years ago, when they made wigs like
floor mats, because they didn't know
any better. There's one advantage that
wig makers have, and that is they keep
their customers. man that puts on
wig can never take it off, He would as
soon think of dressing himself without
his coat as without his wig, and he |
would feel as strange without it as other
men would feel in the street without
any hat. 1t looks easy to make wig,
but it isn't, and not every man can make
them. Wig makers are born, not made,
just like artists in other Professions. -