The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1898-10-17
LoNOoN's HAIR TRADE.
Dust Bins, Maidens and Cofins Con
tributs-Secrets and Prices.

Dust Bins, Maidens and Cohins Con.
tributs-secrets and Prices.
In the little house in Bloomsbury where
sheaves Of human hair are garnered work
is heavy. 49, = ) x. 1s1.-sz-
Now Is the season whom the British
maEon ronews her scant locks; when tho
Adonis Of go buys himself another scalp,
and the fair maid whose thatch Is light
pads it out with hair harvested from other
heads.
Before folk 60 on a holiday they pay
visit to the hairdressor and the demand
for fringes, bandeaux, invisible coverings,
J scalpettes, top ourls, fancy toupees and
semicovered hair stems WAKES great.
But the hairdresser does not always keep
these things in stock. He goes to the
dealer In human hair, and thither Daily
Mail representative went-to the second
door round the corner down o street be.
meath the shadow Of the grim facade Of
tho highly respectable British museum.
A comedy Scot, in the primo of life,
stood behind the counter. "This lot, he
said, ais known in tho trade as rag pick.
ers' combings." 1t was large sheaf Of
hair, black, of coarse texture, about six
L
went on, "are the oombings Of many
heads. Paris ragpickers gather them.
They are then oleansed, sorted in length
and sold at very cheap price, Theatrical
wigs are their final destination. They
curl beautifully"
How to keep the hair In curl Is a knotty
problem in somo boudoirs. And yet 1t is
easily done. Twist the hair tightly round
pipe Then boil 1t; afterward bake 1t.
1t will never come uncurlcd.
Italy and France are the fields which
supply the English human hair markets.
Tho coarser grades come from the former
country, from Naples and Palermo and tho
finer ones from France. Girls in the sun.
ny land clothe themselves, as did Godva
Of old, in their long locks-only they do
it in {. more conventional manner. When
tho hair is grown, they attend a fair. Here
arc merchants of Paris ready to clip and
pay cash down. And the girls sell their
hair, buy garments, go homo, rub in
romatum and start growing another crop.
A healthy girl with vigorous scalp will
grow two or three marketable crops In
tho course of q year
Prices range from 10 francs to 40 francs
per head of hair. Color purity is tho de-
termining factor. The hair must 10 the
same shade throughout from stem to tip.
In Scandinavia and Germany tho color
varies greatly. The last wave will BIO tho
yellow of wheat straw, while at its source
it is almost ruddy. Such hair Is Of no
use for the English market. 1t Is sent to
America.
Human hair Is of all lengths, but the
longest grows on corpsos There Is no
telling which is cut from tho living or
from the dead. But from tho coffin are
CLEANED bcauty's loveliost trcsses. And
tho PRICE of them is IL shilings an ounce.
Mary ladies visit the little house in
Bloomsbury. They shake out their locks
and say: "Isn't it beautiful? What will
you givef" And they ask fabulous price,
as if their head carried 10 to IL pounds of
hair instead of 10 to IL ounces.
It is comforting to know that in the
matter Of hair England still holds her
own. Thirty years in the trade show that
we are not becoming more bald. The de-
mand for scalps is even less than formerly.
In Germany it is different. Toutons don't
keep thor hair on in the way they used to.
If nations resemble Samson and their
strength lies in their flowing locks, Brit
ain in her old age grows no weaker
London Mail.