Regarding 19th C hair wreaths and similar things - Do you know of any sources on how much women were paid for their hair when they sold it? I've been tearing my own out for a couple of months trying to find any solid information. The best I've been able to determine the answer is "not much", but I'm hoping to find something more specific.
Interesting; I'm not sure I do.
I know there were hair-buying fairs all over the European countryside and that most hair for doll wigs, hairpieces, and commercial hairwork came from there (sentimental hairwork with hair from specific loved ones being a whole other animal, and from what I've heard, far more common). Peasant women selling their hair to earn some extra money. Though some places in cities also bought hair, as seen in The Gift of the Magi, Les Miserables, and Little Women. I know the payout was based on color, thickness, length, etc. and as you say, I'm almost certain it wasn't fair based on the hair buyers' expected profit.
(I will say that, in Little Women, Jo sells her rather exceptional thick chestnut hair for $25 c. 1865 in Concord, Massachusetts, USA- based purely on inflation that's about $450 in today's money, but inflation is an imperfect calculator of actual buying power/cultural meaning for a given amount of money. That's also a fictional story, so. Grain of salt, etc.)
But the specific amounts, I'm not sure of. If anyone reading this has ever seen lists or estimates, I'd love to know!
