New-York tribune., 1906-08-12
Human Hair Marker ~, France.
Famine Tresses.
Refu to Part with Them-They to
Look ike
Paris. August 2.

Paris, August 2.
The fashionable hair dressers OF New YORK
and London obtain a large portion of the human
hair reouired by their fair customers from the
neasant girls and women of Limoges, of the
Vosges. Of Auvergne and of Brittany. Each sue
ceeding year discloses increasing repugnance
among the women of these regions TO sell their
hair. and the dealers are already beginning to
omen new markets in Austria Hungary and IN
the Balkan Peninsula. The price Of human hair
an Fsrance Is this season higher than before,
and che aspect of this business, which hourished
early in the Middle Ages and which now seems
destined to disappear, is an interesting feature
1of a summer trip through the hair producing
regions OF France.
The ~cOupeur'' QiteraIly, the cutteT), with his
sfears.and scales. IS familiar figure at certain
Of the fairs OF France. To foreigner he is a
CURIOUS figure enough, but to the natives his an
slual apuearance causes no kind or emotion. His
booth Is the first to be visited by the country
girls andrTvonlen, because by means or his scls-
eofsfhev can turn their long tresses into a SUBJ
utantial addition 60 their dowry. The coupeur'
however, has other luggage besides his shears
and scales. Generally he has an array of tempt
sng articles at his elbow, and some OF his GUS
toners prefer 10 barter the coveted locks Tor a
roaaP pG handsome silver pins, to be Worn IN the
caps q. brooch TO fasten the fichu, or piece Of
embroidered cambria, instead OF for cash.
HIGH PRICES FOR WHITE HAIR
II IgnoeonIy the girls Of the country who visit
she 'icoupeur's' booth at Limoges Fair. Women
OF all ages wear false hair to-day. and so the
1aafr merchant IS on Che lookout for gray and
white hair as well as for blond or brown or
black. It IS astonishing what fine heads Of hair
are to be found some of these aged heads
4n the, ,Auvergne or Limousin district, and the
merchant offers very high prices for white hairs
This year. in fact, the price offered and paid at
Limoges for quite white hair was as much as
$50 for as much as would balance a half-ounce
letter. that IS, at $500 pound! Owners Of
brown locks OF ordinary shades, on the other
hand, were offered only from 50 to $40 pound.
Hair to be Of any value to the hair merchant
must possess three qualities. In the first place.
IL must never have been crimped or curled with
hot irons: IN the second. It must not have been
exposed 10 the air, and in the third-the most
curious condition, perhaps. of all-lt must not
have been much combed. The average French
reasant woman OF the more remote country dis
tricts meets all these conditions. Her hair. ever
since she passed the age OF childhood. has been
covered either with the neat cotton handkerchief
hound smoothly and tightly all over her head.
hiding completely the whole OF her hair. or else
Il has been equally well hidden beneath some
one of the pretty characteristic caps of France,
Of which every district practically has fits own.
The pictuuesQue1n 1national costumes of the French
peasants, wileh have not varied by much
as the pattern Df pin for centuries. always cuI-
inmate in the headdress. which Is of Infinite
variety. Between the huge black silk bow
fastened by the Alsatian girl to the back Of her
head and the small confection of fine net and
lace Worn in some parts Of Brittany there are
all the notes of the scale All have the effect
the wearer, however, OF making her wholly
indifferent her hair. Hence it is no sacrifice
for the peasant TO part with the tresses on which
the haIrdressers OF the towns depend to embel-
lish the heads Of their fashionable clients
WILES OF THE HAIR MERCHANT
Unfortunately, however. from several points
Of view, the aesthetic well as the commercial,
the tendency Of the peasant girl of to-day is to
discard the pretty dress Of her ancestors which
is, in a sense, caste uniform, and conform to
the fashions of the town. The cheap hat COW
cred with cheap flowers. is ousting the pretty,
dainty country cap, and the country girls hes-
tate now 10 part with their hair Hence every
year the hair merchant finds it Increasingly diff
icut 70 get together his stock of treSseS II often
requires extraordinary diplomacy to induce a
young middle aged woman to part with
her abundant hair, and they no longer flock TO
his booth 20 display their locks. He is forced to
go out and waylay them at the market places
and talk them into making bargain with him.
The French coupeur generally finds his hap
piest hunting ground" in the north Of the coun-
try both Brittany and Normandy furnishing
long and silky treSses. Fair hair, also long aud
sleek, ne mas ln the east among the KOSgeS
hills, but the hair that best takes the wave SO
popular Of late years with women, is that of the
South, and Limoges is the centre of the trade in
this particular kind of hair. Limoges Fair is
visited by hair merchants from other parts OF
the world, too; Russians from Moscow. Ger
mans from Berlin Englishnen from London all
find their way thither at the end of June, an6
the competition is keen between the cutters
This year they found a sadly diminished supply
Of the article. and fashion DEGREES that much
must be worn on every elegant head II looks as
though we should be obliged TO initiate the Chi
nese and employ horsehair for the extra rolls
and curls and plaits that women now require.
Times have changed. Two centuries ago all
heads. male and female, were covered with false
hair. and the w5gTnaker of King Louis XIV was
one OF the most important persona ges in Paris.
His wigs fetched 5000 apiece and were
made OF fine. silky hair. elegantly curled and
dressed He and the ike Of him had a practi-
cally unlimited supply Of the raw material be-
hind them, and twice a year the coupeurs went
their rounds, bringing back gOodly loads Of hair
The French Revolution swept away those elab-
OFate headdresses, while modern means NJ
lOcomotion and the march Of republican ideas