Wigmaker

“ The tradition of the humble artisan whose industry and integrity earned him the esteem of his fellow citizens ran strong in colonial America. Unfortunately for the wigmakers, however, no bulwark could withstand the ebb tide of fashion. ”

“ Clendinning’s prices were in the same range as those charged by Williamsburg wigmakers through most of the eighteenth century. It is worth remark that Charlton’s price for a brown dress bob wig was the same in 1770 as Andrew Anderson had charged in 1752 and as Jean Pasteur had received in 1726, though the earlier models were probably more elaborate than Charlton made.
From prices charged for various articles of clothing at the same period, it appears that a man could outfit himself with hat, coat, shirt, breeches, hose, and shoes for about what his wig would cost him. ”

“ George Lafong, whose Williamsburg wig shop rivaled Charlton’s in the early 1770s, ended as a beggar in 29 1796. Someone, it seems, must pay the price for every forward step in the march of progress. Were it not so, all of us might still be wearing wigs today.
THE BARBERS AND WIGMAKERS OF WILLIAMSBURG Andrew Anderson—Apprenticed for seven years to John Peter Wagnon of Williamsburg in 1731. After only five years became his own master and bought Wagnon’s shop next to the Raleigh Tavern. The only Williamsburg barber known to have practiced dentistry and phlebotomy. ”

“ Wigmakers' materials were expensive also—"wig ribans, cauls, curling pipes, sprigg wyers, and wigg steels;" and were advertised in vast numbers that show the universal prevalence of the fashion.
By the beginning of this century, women—having powdered and greased and pulled their hair almost off their heads—were glad to wear their remaining locks à-la-Flora or à-la-Virginia, or to wear wigs to simulate these styles. We find Eliza Southgate Bowne writing thus to her mother from Boston in the year 1800:
"... ”

“ Anglican clerics in Virginia, as Charlton’s accounts testify, wore brown dress bobs just like those of so many of their parishioners.
THE MAKING OF A WIG
The eighteenth-century wig was built up of rows of hair woven at the root ends to cross-threads, each row being then sewn to a net-and-ribbon skullcap or “caul.” The steps in making a queue wig would differ, of course, in some detail from those in making a wig without a queue. ”

“ Negro slaves may sometimes have been decked out in white wigs: those who were the liveried house slaves, coachmen, and the like, of the ostentatiously rich planters. On the other hand, such a well-to-do and fashion-conscious man as George Washington 14 seems from portraits and other records to have worn no wig at all, though he kept his own hair well powdered and curled. In the lesser ranks craftsmen, indentured servants, and apprentices sometimes did and sometimes did not wear wigs. ”

“ By far the larger portion of hair used in Williamsburg-made wigs was imported from England, either by the perukemaker himself or by colonial hair merchants.
According to Diderot’s Encyclopedia, hair from regions such as Flanders, where beer and cider were the common beverages, made superior wigs; women’s hair was better than men’s; country women’s better than city women’s; and 11 chestnut was the most desirable color—except that white wigs should be made of hair that once had been black. ”

“ When the loaf is returned to the wig shop and broken open, the curls will have absorbed some moisture from the dough and must again be dried out in the charcoal oven. Finally dried and cooled, the curled hair can be taken off the pins and combed out in the hackle, further separated by lengths if necessary, and the root ends of each parcel trimmed off evenly. If the hair is thin and needs to be filled out with horsehair, or if hair of different colors is to be mixed to achieve a desired shade, this is the time to do it. ”

“ He need not have been concerned on that score; the fashion throve better after the plague than before, attaining its greatest development under Queen Anne, when the long curls of men’s full-bottomed wigs covered the back and shoulders and floated down over the chest. ”

“ Some do it by adroitly covering with the hair all the weft except the last row, which, being closely woven and very fine withal, is sewn on the wig the wrong way, but, the hair being pressed into proper position, covers the weft, and effectually conceals it from view. There are other modes of attaining this object, but much depends on a man’s ingenuity, for here is a difficulty which a clever workman must seek to overcome. Secondly, it is natural for some fine, short, more or less fluffy hair to grow in the neck; and here is the next trial of skill on the part of the wig-maker. ”

“ But the wig returned again for more than a century, though you may remember that in The Rivals there is an early hint of its final disappearance. There was never probably a more crazy fashion, and, like most crazy fashions, it began, as the "Alexandra limp" of our youth began, in snobbery. Was it not a fact that a bald-headed King wore a wig to conceal his baldness, which set all the flunkey-world wearing wigs to conceal their hair? This aping of the great is always converting some defect or folly into a virtue. ”

“ These preliminaries having been duly attended to, the parting and crown may now be put in position and sewn carefully, so as to avoid any wrinkles or puckering; it must lie flat, be perfectly smooth, and resemble the natural parting of hair as much as possible. Herein lies the art of the wig-maker—to imitate nature so skilfully that detection is almost impossible—a feat that is accomplished not unfrequently by some of the most skilful wig-makers of the day. ”

“ A calculation ought to be made first, and the appearance, age of wearer, and so forth taken into consideration. As a rule, the makers of wigs put too much hair in their manufactures. The lighter they are, the better. Still, sufficient hair must be used to cover them, and much depends upon the fineness of the weft. Weaving some thirty yards of weft is, no doubt, considered a task by many, but unless it is fine throughout, more hair than necessary is likely to be consumed. An ordinary weaver should do at least a yard of wig-weft an hour, but professed weavers would do much more than that. ”

“ Whether it was that the hair dresser was afraid of losing me, or that his heart was slightly touched with compassion for Alice and her orphan children, I know not; but he offered the good curate a sum for me which satisfied him.
As the curate gave me up, he untied the blue ribbon, folded it up nicely, and put it into his pocket; and I think he dropped a tear as he did so.
The wig maker examined me again when he was by himself. "A fine head of hair it really is," said he. "It will make a good wig for a youngish sort of a man; and the curls will make it work easier." ”

“ Madame Dépine coloured. “But—but we are two. Is there no reduction on taking a quantity?”
“And why then? A wig is a wig. Twice a hundred francs are two hundred francs.”
“One hundred francs for a wig!” said Madame Valière, paling. “1 did not pay that for the one I wear.”
“I well believe it, madame. A grey wig is not a brown wig.”
“But you just said a wig is a wig.”
The coiffeur gave angry rubs at the head, in time with his explosive phrases. “You want real hair, I presume—and to your measure—and to look natural—and convenable!” (Both old ladies shuddered at the word.) ”

“ WIG (short for “periwig,” an alternative form of “peruke,” Fr. perruque; cf. Span, peluca; conjecturally derived from Lat. pilus) , an artificial head of hair, worn as a personal adornment, disguise or symbol of office. The custom of wearing wigs is of great antiquity. If, as seems probable, the curious head-covering of a prehistoric ivory carving of a female head found by M. Piette in the cave of Brassempouy in the Landes represents a wig (see Ray Lankester, Science from an Easy Chair, fig. 7) the fashion is certainly some 100,000 years old. ”

“ The varieties of wigs are endless. Those that decorate the heads of the clerks are not the full-bottomed wig, to assume which would be presumptuous in one in service. Most of the mechanics wear their hair tied behind; the rustics, sailors, stevedores, watermen, and river-side men generally wear it long, loose, and unkempt. There is a great trade in second-hand wigs. In Rosemary Lane there is a wig lottery. You pay sixpence, and you dip in a cask for an old wig. It may turn out quite a presentable thing, and it may be worthless. Here is a company of sailors rolling along armed with clubs. ”

“ Crop, or Wig Weft, should be very finely made, taking about six or eight hairs at a time to make a weft, depending of course on the quality of the hair used. Each weft should be tolerably wide apart, and firmly woven, if durability in a wig be required. When it is remembered that twenty or thirty yards are wanted in the manufacture of a gentleman’s wig, my reason for saying that the wefts should be fine and well-set must be apparent, for were it otherwise, the article would be heavy and uncomfortable to the wearer. ”

“ The old wig, on the contrary, was a plain acknowledgment of want of hair; avowing the comfort, or the inconvenience, (as it might happen,) with an independent indifference to mirth or pity; and forming a decent covering to the head that sought not to become either a decoration or deceit. Peace to the manes of the primitive artificers of human hair—the true skull-thatchers—the architects of towering toupees—the engineers of flowing periwigs!
The wig-makers (as they still denominate themselves) in Lincoln’s-inn and the Temple, are quite of the “old school.” ”

“ No doubt the constant wearing of such hot, heavy head-covering made the hair thin and the head bald; thus wigs became a necessity. Men had their heads very closely covered of old, and caught cold at a breath. Pepys took cold throwing off his hat while at dinner. If the wig were removed even within doors a close cap or hood at once took its place, or, as I tell elsewhere, a turban of some rich stuff. In America, in the Southern states, where people were poor and plantations scattered, all men did not wear wigs. A writer in the London Magazine in 1745 tells of this country carelessness of dress. ”

“ But Puritan and Cavalier and Quaker all succumbed to the wig. The rage for wearing wigs by the beginning of the eighteenth century seemed to have possessed the colonists, as wigs were worn by men of all ranks and conditions, by children, servants, prisoners, and even sailors and soldiers. The styles varied greatly, sometimes they swelled out at the side, sometimes they hung in braids or in curls or in pig-tails, and again they were in great puffs or were turned under in heavy rolls. They were made of human hair, horsehair, goat's-hair, calves' and cows' tails, thread, silk, and mohair. ”

“ No one was ashamed of wearing a wig. On the contrary, a person with any sense of dignity was ashamed of being so unfashionable as to wear his own hair. It was a glorious time for those to whom Nature had been niggardly. A wig was as frankly extraneous as a hat. No attempt was made to imitate the roots of the hairs, or the parting. The hair was attached openly, and bound with a high-colored, narrow ribbon. Here is an advertisement from the Boston News Letter of August 14, 1729 ”

“ Not only did gentlemen wear wigs, but children, servants, prisoners, sailors, and soldiers also; as early certainly as 1716 the fashion was universal. So great was the demand for this false head-gear, that wigs were made of goat-hair and horse-hair, as well as human hair. The cost of dressing and caring for wigs became a heavy item of expense to the wearer, and income to the barber; often eight or ten pounds a year were paid for the care of a single wig. ”

“ But should the wearer wish to have a fringe on the forehead, with curls at the sides (either long or short) , equality of weight must, nevertheless, be maintained, and the other portion treated accordingly. A well-balanced wig is, at all times, essential to success.
To make a wig, then, for straight hair only, mount it as previously instructed. Having fixed 214the galloon according to pencilled outlines, baste it carefully and put another piece of galloon across the top, which must extend from ear to ear. ”

“ Wigs were formerly used instead of brooms in Ireland, for sweeping or dusting tables, stairs, &c. The Editor doubted the fact, till he saw a labourer of the old school sweep down a flight of stairs with his wig; he afterwards put it on his head again with the utmost composure, and said, “Oh, please your honour, it’s never a bit the worse.”
It must be acknowledged, that these men are not in any danger of catching cold by taking off their wigs occasionally, because they usually have fine crops of hair growing under their wigs. ”

“ When taking an order for a lady’s or gentleman’s wig, observe the shape of the head, cast of countenance, and age of the person who intends wearing it. Note whether the head is long, broad, or high, as a correct shape ought to be maintained by the wig-maker, who, in this and other respects, should be an artist. Observe also whether the face is long, round, or oval, because the arrangement of the hair on the forehead and sides of the head has much to do in presenting a good appearance. ”

“ To both Madame Dépine and Madame Valière the grey wig came like a blow on the heart.
It was a grisly embodiment of their secret griefs, a tantalising vision of the unattainable. To glide reputably into a grey wig had been for years their dearest desire. As each saw herself getting older and older, saw her complexion fade and the crow's-feet gather, and her eyes grow hollow, and her teeth fall out and her cheeks fall in, so did the impropriety of her brown wig strike more and more humiliatingly to her soul. But how should a poor old woman ever accumulate enough for a new wig? ”