Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1897-03-11
HARVEST OF HAIR.
HOW THE couPEuRs GATHERED 1T
FROM THE HEADS OF THE POOR.

HOW THE couPEuRS GATHERED 1T
FROM THE HEADS OF THE POOR.
wiles Employed to Get Woman to Part
With Her "chief Glory There Was AL
ways Sure Market. For False Hair Was
Worn by All Fashionable Ladies.
History records the fact that in 1852,
in England, long, fiaxen hair was pur-
chased from the head at 10 shillings an
ounce, while other fine hair fetched
from to shillings for the same guam
tity, and within the present century the
heads of whole families in Devonshire
were let out by the year at so much per
poll, periwig maker Ct Exeter going
round at certain periods to cut the locks,
afterward oiling the skull of each bereft
person. That the use of false hair as an
aid to feminine beauty was not unknown
to the ancients is well proved. The
Greeks, Romans and Egyptians, long
before the dawn Of the Christian era,
resorted to the wearing of tresses OBJ
tanned from other persons heads They
even went SO far as to paint bald heads
so as to represent them as covered with
short hair, also marble caps SO painted
were worn. A valuable merchandise in
the blond hair of German women is
mentioned in ancient Roman history.
A question that has doubtless often
presented itself is, Where did all this
hair come froms This question I will
endeaver to answer. With the coming
of spring in the midlands and west of
France appeared what may fifty be
termed a singular class of nomadic indi-
yiduals, armed with long, iron tipped
slaves and bearing heavy packs of mer-
ehandise upon their backs At first
glance one would have taken them to
be ordinary hawkers, yet merchandise
was but an accessory to their strange
industry. They were the coupeurs, the
reapers of hirsute harvest
Armed with long, keen shears, they
went their way seeking the tresses of
willing victims dwelling in outlying
hamlets and villages of peasant France,
and laborious business it was. From
''dewy morn until the shadows of
night gathered thickly they did their 10
on 10 miles day-often fruitlessly and
with empty stomachs, their only bed the
wayside In Auvergne these seekers
after hair were known as chimneurs.
The Bretons called them margoulins.
These terms have not fit English paral-
lels.
These curious journeymen exerted
every effort to gain their ends-a good
head of hair-the former preferring the
local fairs as workroom, the latter
choosing to visit the dwellings of their
possible clients. In summer the Brittany
margoulin was often seen going through
the streets, carrying his long staff, from
which hung twists of hair, while he
cried in doleful tones the well known
ePiau, piau!' at the sound of which
the cottagers, with an itching desire to
possess some of his gewgaws, attracted
the wanderers attention. He was only
too pleased to dazzle their eyes with his
many colored wares, and the bargaining
was not slow to begin. While the women
fingered his goods the margoulin weigh
ed her tresses with his hand, proceed
ing at which he was adept through long
practice. The bargain ended, the woman
yielded her abundant locks in return for
a few yards of cotton stuff or a gay pet
ticoat, to which, thanks to the progress
of civilization, the coupeur had to add
small sum of money. Sometimes the
transaction was not completed without
much discussion on both sides. Very
often the coupeur had to return to the
charge owing to female indecision, and
he was more than happy when sure that
a tardy remorse would not rob him of
half his coveted trophy
Until the authorities intervened, cut
ting was conducted in public as an
amusement for onlookers, it being con-
sidered highly entertaining to hear 10
or 10 rival coupeurs eulogizing their
wares, each protesting his to be far su-
perior to his fellows. The prohibition
of this custom drove the hair harvesters
to erect tents, rent for the day unoccu-
pied shops, cellars, stables or any corner
they could find wherein to establish
themselves. Sticks were then stuck up,
from them being suspended petticoats
as lure, as an indication of what could
be had in exchange for tresses; to the
petticoats were attached twists of hair
as trademarks. The ruse succeeded.
peasants halted, casting envious glances
at the multicolored garments. They
were handled and even tried on, thus
affording an opportunity to the coupeurs
to fiatter their fair customers-who did
not long rest-and victory rewarded the
cute buyers In Auvergne-where the
coupeurs were most numerous = the
greatest harvest was reaped on st. Johns
day. The ingathering extended from
April to September, during which month
the butchers, bakers, locksmiths, ETC.,
forsook their ordinary avocations for
that of the coupeur, returning to their
legitimate trades with the coming Of
the dead season. The hair of different
countries was distinguished by certain
qualities. For instance, that of Au-
vergne was the coarsest; the finest and
most fiaxen from Belgium; the blacklist
and longest from Italy, while that pro-
cured in Brittany was the most beauti-
full, though least we'll cared for
Hearth and Home.