St. Landry democrat., 1890-04-05
Selling Human Hair.


WHERE THE CROP Is GROWN AND HOW
1T is BOUGHT.
In remote Swiss, German and French
villages traffic in human hair is as recog-
nlzed portion of the commerce as the
sale OF butter and eggs, and is to the young
peasant girls very important matter.
They grow their hair with view to SELL
ing it, just as their fathers and brothers
grow their cereals and raise their cattle
Tor the same purpose. In many cases,
where they are fortunate enough to have
| it of good marketable color and ine text
ure, they get for their ware more than
their male relatives could hope to clear
after many years of hard toll
The great drawback to the lucrative
ness of hair farming is the slowness of
growth and the fact that the same head is
rarely known to produce remarkably fine
crop twice An objection to it is dislike
natural IN woman, to part with what is
nature given ornament. We NAV feel
positive that in the districts where hair is
sold it is proud distinction to be in con-
slant possession of a good crop which is
definitely understood TO be ''not for sale"
and which argues we'll for the amount of
worldly goods enjoyed by it's possessor.
Here, where there is no recognized COM
it was year ago quite fashionable to have
hair short and wavy, like a mans There
however the consolation has to be admin
Istered in the shape of hard cash, and
even with that great consider in their
hands the peasant hair growers can sell
dom see their shOrn tresses gathered up By
the Indifferent purchasers with euuaul1u-
ity,
One village market is held every second
Friday, and is attended by buyers from
Paris only. These walk about the street
the VI iaee boasts but one long narrow
one-while the girls stand about in coup
les SO that they may give each other moral
support The business is transacted in a
large room. The sellers, having had their
hair c0mbed out and examined, wait for
al offer.
If this be satisfactory, the buyer takes
up pair of bright shears fastened to his
waist and cuts the tresses, papering and
pocketing them quickly so that the de-
uuded girl may see as little of them as
possible once they have passed out of her
possession. Sho then goes off and uses all
the means she knows of to cultivate new
crop, which occasionally is successful up
TO the third and even fourth transactions
though rarely is the rst bargain bettered
The crop, however, is capricious; occasion
ally a second growth and third have
veen known to exceed the first in length
and fneness to surprising degree, though
if the color be fair and particularly of
golden sheen, the second crop even is al
most invariably not satisfactory in this one
particular.
Purely white hair, if long and fine, may
be converted into a little fortune by it's
possessor, supposing she be so minded.
Albino women have been known to obtain
for crop of hair white as snow and fine
as spun silk thu nice little sum of $3.50.
which certainly would make hair farming
remunerative occupation, supposing
that emily two such crops could be raised
and disposed of in lifetime
It is said that the French ex-empress
paid $500 an ounce for hair to match her
own, which was, in her youth, that much
priced hue which is the same as virgin
gold The difficulty of exactly matching
hair is much greater than might be sup
posed by the casual observer, who sees
only the four colors known by hair ex-
perts as type colors-white, black. brown
and blonde. Each of these produce nu-
merous shades, not less than sixteen of
every type, and the subtle difference be-,
tween these shades of hair is wonderfully
perceptible, as those who have a little
aud want to match it speedily find out
Hair which is artifcially colored to match
is most unsatisfactory, as the hue is not
stationary.
Hair dyed on the head is far from en-
viable possession, as it requires frequent
redippiugs, and it's owner (the ways of
hair dying being inscrutable) has usually
to disappear from social ken during the
process. Not alone that fact, but also
that medical men declare sofGening of the
brain to be brought on by the use of hair
dye as well as diseases of the eye, makes
this most undesirable practice.
A fine head of virgin gold colored hair
will bring from $500 to $500, according to
it's length and luxuriance, and to those
who have it and are anxious to convert it
into hard cash it may bs pleasing to hear
that there are orders in advance for all
that can be produced of this description
for the next five years.-ChGtter
40