CONVENT HAIR.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XVII, Issue II, 11 July 1896, Page 60

CONVENT HAIR.

Sentimental persons are very apt to have their feelings harrowed by the phiase ‘ real convent hair ’ used so generally in the hair trade. Their sympathies are so easily aroused by the mysterious and unknown suffering which they imagine inmates of convents are constantly enduring. Unfortunately for romance, the unselfish emotion thus inspired in many susceptible breasts is very frequently misapplied, for at least seven-eighths of the so-called • con* vent hair' was never within the walls of a convent. It is much more likely to have belonged to some hardy French or German peasant girl only too eager to part with it for the few dollars offered in exchange.

Less than one eighth of the so-called • convent hair ’ really comes from convents, as the term • convent hair ’ applies, among hair dealers, to any hair bought from the heads of- young, healthy girls, whether they are nuns or not.

In the quiet life of the nuns the coming of the hair buyer creates a subdued excitement, a gentle murmur goes from one nun to another, and those high enough in authority to have the privilege of talking things over discuss the merits of this and that one’s hair, how long it is, bow glossy, wbat a rare colour, and whether the crop will realize more or less than it did last time. Those among the nuns who have the finest hair feel a negative sort of pleasure at being able to make a more valuable sacrifice than the rest, and for a moment, perhaps, a tiny remnant of worldly pride stirs in their gentle hearts. Gentle and unsophisticated as they seem, they can drive a sharp bargain for their beloved convent, as the hair dealer who tries to overreach them in a trade finds to his sorrow.