Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1892-02-20
HOW FALSE HAIR Is OBTAINED.

Much Of It Comes From the Ash Barrels of
Paris.
From the New York Herald.
The best false hair comes from France, where
1t is sold by the gramme at prices which vary
according to quality and color. The most ex-
pensive false hair is the silver white variety.
which is in great demand and very difficult to
find. This is due to the fact that men grow
bald in majority Of cases before their hair
reaches the silver white stage, and women.
whether bald or not, are not disposed to sell
their white hair at any price. They need it
themselves.
Still women growing bald must have white
hair to match the scant allowance advancing
age has left them. The chemists have taken
the matter in hand and are able to produce by
decoloration Of hair of any color tolerable
grade of white hair, which, however. has a
blush tint not at all approaching in beauty
the silvery softness Of hair which has been
bieached by nature.
False hair Of the ordinary shades is obtained
In two ways The better and more expensive
kind is cut directly from the heads of peasant
women, Who sell their silken tresses some.
times for mere song and sometimes for q
iair price, according as they have learned wis
DOM Every year the whole territory of
France Is Travelled over by men whose business
1t Is to persuade village maidens their mothers
and their aunts to part with their hair for
financial considerations
These men are known as CUTTERS" and there
are at least 900 OF them in the country always
going from house to house. from farm to farm
and through all the villages in all the depart
ments, seeking subjects for their scissors A
good cutter averages from two to five heads of
hair day, and he pays from a. to l0f. for
each. 1t is estimated that a single head of
iuxuriant growth weighs about pound.
The false hair thus obtained-at the cost OF
the tears and regrets OF many foolish maidens-
is the finest in the market and sells for an ex-
aggerated price. which puts it beyond the
reach OF the ordinary purchaser. Besides, it is
evident that the supply of genuine cuttings"
must fall far short of the demand for false hair.
So the majority Of this wavy merchandise il
obtained-yes, ladies, am exceedingly sorry.
but it is the fact-from the rag pickers. These
busy searchers OF ash heaps and garbage bar
rels collect evory day in the city OF Paris alone
at least 100 pounds Of bair, which some hun
dreds Of thousands of women have combed out
of their heads during the preceding twenty
four hours. This hair, all mixed together and
soiled, one would think, beyond redemption,
is sold to hair cleaners at from 81 to d. so a
pound, which shows simply that the fair sex in
one city alone throws away annually about
SOC, 000f worth Of hair for which they after
ward pay-and it is the same hair, mind-con-
siderably over Zoo. OOOf.
The cleaning Of this refuse hair Is an oper-
alton which requires careful attention. After
the hair has been freed from the dust and dirt
and mud and other unpleasant things with
which 1t has come in contact in cutters and
slop buckets it Is rubbed in sawdust until it
shines once more with its pristine gloss, and
then the process Of sorting 10 begun. In the first
place skilled hands fix the individual hairs in
frames, with the roots all pointing the same
way, and then they are arranged according to
color. Finally. when = sufficient number of
hairs OF one color have been obtained-nor is
this number SO immense as is generally sup
posed-they are made into the beautiful braids
which are shown SO seductively in the windows
Of the fashionable coifeurs. II, as the good
book says, wisdom goes with the hair, she who
places on her head one Of these congIomerate
braids might be said to receive portion Of the
wisdom Of hundreds of thousands of other
women who had worn those hairs before her.
1t il said that the CUTTERS in France have
piled their trade so industriously that at pres
emit it is hardly possible in the whole republic
to find a woman who will sell her hair. The
business has been done to death and now the
enterprising dealers in false hair are sending
their representatives through Switzerland
Belgium and Norway canvassing for unsophis.
ticated lasses who will allow themselves to be
robbed Of their hair, which is half of their
hao, o. e..