The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1901-01-16
MEN WHO WEAR ToupEEs.
Reason why Fewer Bald Men Are to
Ee Seen.
Record.

Itt4iduttHuld fAeCOfu-
There are in Philadelphia LOO men who
wear toupees. A toupee in the vernacular
Is called a scratch. IL is little wig that
Is stuck upon the scalp by means of an
adhesive wax, covering only the bald spot
and blending with the real hair at the
sides and back Of the head deceptively.
1t Is hard TO detect toupee. and the num-
Der or men who wear t0upees in this city
was not ascertained by any actual count
OF neadS. IL was ascertained from the
toupee makers themselves, who keep. for
business purposes locks OF hair, with the
names attached, OF all their patrons There
are here some fifteen or twenty makers.
and three of them have national reputa-
tions.
How does a man come 10 wear a tou-
pee? His purpose in wearing II is essen
TALLY one OF deception. He wishes nobody
he, baldhead, raise the nerve to appear
tor the first time among his friends in a
palpably false arrangement OF thick. lux
uriant hairg' That question was put TO a
famous toupee maker yesterday afternoon.
The man smiled and made this answer:
man has tbinnine hair Hs yis,ts ne en nd
asks me TO shave close all the notification
part OF his scalp. L do this. and con-
Therefore the gentleman gets me 10 make
him a wig which he intends TO wear until
the hair that had been shaved grows in
again. IL grows in, but slowly. Having
thinner than IL had been before. So I
shave the scalp again. and I'm time there
Is another growth. still slghter thar the
previous one. This process continues. the
badness becomes more and more marked.
and the gentleman begins TO lose heart
But no one is aware that he is bald He
had begun 10 wear his wig before the fact
was evident What. then. will people say
IL he suddenly comes out with shiny.
white head? There is alternative for
him but to keep on with the wig. and the
man is from that time one Of my steady
customers.
The maker explained the process OF the
construction of the toupee The head IL
IL TO embellish is first measured carefully.
and then the hair is matched Usually
there is in stock some hair that matches
the locks at the sides and back Of the
patrons scalp, but il that is not the case
a lock is clipped off and sent TO Paris.
whence in few weeks some hair of the
required shade is returned. The maker
then shapes the foundation. The founda-
ton is a fine gauze. made OF pale-colored
human hair, and is practically invisible
when laid upon the flesh. Hence the
toupee's parting where the foundation
shows. has no look OF unreality, and ex-
cites no suspicion.
On the foundation the hairs are crochet-
ed, one hair at a time, n long and tedious
task Each hair is lifted up in the hand
and knotted with a needle, in the founda-
tons interstices. To do this takes two
weeks. Afterwards the toupee is bound
with narrow silk ribbon and is fitted on the
head OF the wearer, when the hair is cut
TO becoming length and the parting is ar
ranged. The completed toupee is very
=
fastened on with peculiar wax that Is
made in Toulouse. a yellow wax, out OF
which the wig maker makes four or five
little pellets, about the size of peas, that
he fixes at intervals on the silk ribbon
binding of the toupee. He sets the toupee
then on the head, pressing the waxed
| binding firmly against the scalp IL holds
infallbly. Heat, cold-nothing affects the
adhesive qualities Of the Toulouse wax on
which the maker has a wonderfully profit
able monopoly. as no one else has ever sue
ndnd In ntr4sr nI.nrf 4.~sn
the wig business.
A toupee costs from $40 to $50 according
TO the color of the hair IL is made Of.
Browns and blacks are the commoner and
cheaper colors; the grays are the more ex-
pensive ones, while white. pure and silvery
white OF old age, Is very costly indeed, hair
or this hue fetching from SIS 10 $40 per
ounce. Toupees last usually a year and a
half or two years, but some men are hard
on them and have TO buy new ones every
six months.
France. There is a class OF peddlers there
who travel through the provinces collect
Ing IL. These men barter with young girls
and women for locks from their fertile
scalps. They do not cut off all the hair
from the heads of those who do business
with them; they skip about cleverly. clip
they are done. though a good deal of hair
has been taken, there is no Disagreement
of the shorn head, no evidence. IN fact.
that any shearing has been done
The trade of the toupee maker. or per-
rCquier, requires an apprenticeship of at
least three years. and during this time
the apprentice receives no salary, and must
lodge and board at his own EXPENSE That,
at least Is the case abroad. Here there
are very few young men who wish TO learn
the business, though the terms TO the APP
prentice are more liberal here, and though
there is always plenty OF work for a clever
graduate perruQuier, and salary OF SIS
OF $50 a week. None the less, however.
practically all the American perruquiers
are foreigners. and served their appren-
ticeship abroad, in Germany or France.