The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1903-07-19

dours TO Prop.
New York Sun.
The women who have laid in their sum-
mer supply of false hair and stored up
few extra ringlets for next winters use
may boast just now of their foresight in
taking advantage of a good hair market
and getting in before the rise. For the
hair market is going up. and a little batch
of fine blonde hair, large enough to prop
up the front of a pompadour, costs more
now than at any other time in the past
twenty years.
The women who consider the newest
things in human hair as household neces-
saries and who make frequent visits to the
hair stores to keep informed on the styles
have in the last few days been astonished
and grieved to learn that the prices of all
kinds of hair have been moving steadily up.
There has been an advance in the price OF
hair every few days for the last two
months, so that at present many varieties
are selling for 30 or 40 or even 80 per cent.
more than at the first of the year.
The New York hair merchants are not
to blame for the high price of hair. In
fact, they are not making SO large profits
out of the sales of wigs and switches as
they did in the days when they sold a whole
head OF hair for about half the price they
now ask for first-cless pompadour. The
importers are surprised, though, to find that
the demand in this city is larger to-day
than it has ever been in the history of the
business, in spite of the higher prices.
Although women general rule do
not buy in so large quantities as they did
few years ago. the number OF purchas-
ers of small quantities of human hair has
so greatly increased that the demand is
much larger than it was a couple of years
ago. This big local demand is one of the
factors helping to boost prices; but 1t is
only a small factor.
The peasants in Europe are the people
who are sending up the price of good hui
man hair. The country girls on the CONT
nent who have, for half century, sup
piled the hair crop of the world. are just
beginning to realize the value of their mer-
chandise and to demand better prices for
their tresses.
Then the demand for good hair is larger
this year, the importers say, among English
and French women than ever before. For
both reasons the prices have gone up on
the continent. and the local dealers must
bid higher for their stock if they are to
secure the fine quality of goods which New
York women demand.
The hair cutting season is over for this
year. The girls have gone TO the fields
for the summers work, and there will be
no more large hair harvests until fall, for
the girls will not sell their hair in the sum-
mer time. The buyers for the large human
hair houses of this city are just returning
from their spring tours of the continent,
during which they gathered their years
supply and are making unusual reports to
the heads of their houses. A partner in one
of the largest wholesale human hair houses
in the country returned on Friday from a
four months tour through Europe in the
quest of human hair. He purchased thou
sands of pounds of hair in the different
countries, which will be distributed through
the United States during the next few
months.
The chief reason for the advance in the
cost of hair is, he said, that the peasants
are getting better informed and advanc-
ing in the scale of civilization. Trolley
car lines are being built into the inter-
ior. where a few years ago there were no
roads.
The result is that the peasant girls see
well-dressed people and are themselves
beginning to wear hats. OF course, If