With regard to single knotting, I would observe that it is not so secure as double knotting, but the knots can and should be made much finer. In single knotting, the roots ought always to be long, much longer in fact than when the knots are double, and ought only to be done with a hair or two at a time, such very fine work being necessary in the middle of partings, the centres of crowns, etc. When single knots are coarsely made, they are liable to be caught by the comb when arranging the hair, and, as a consequence, the weft pulled out; but if finely worked this is not so liable to occur. Single knotting can be done rapidly with short hair, as in gentlemen’s wigs, but it is somewhat insecure, and, therefore, best avoided. Better be “slow and sure” at your work, than spoil it altogether merely to be quick. Strive at all times to execute good work, so that your employer may depend upon what you do, and all that emanates from the shop will, in consequence, bear the stamp of excellence.
With regard to double knotting, I wish you to turn to the instructions given on page [153], and, to avoid recapitulation, begin with the words, “Take some straight hair,” etc., and follow on till you come to “draw the hook (with the hair) through the loop,” then stop for a moment and take up here. I repeat—“draw the hook (with the hair) through the loop;” let that slide back a little as it did before, take hold of (or hook) the weft again, giving the needle at the same moment a turn; draw through the loop once more, and pull tight down upon the net. In other words, proceed as though you were going to make a single knot, but instead of drawing it through at once, make another knot upon the hair itself, and then draw through. Thus you have made or tied a double knot, and there need not be any fear of its coming away, for it is too well secured. These double knots should be made where they are best concealed, but ought not to be coarsely done, otherwise they will appear unsightly when the workmanship is examined. Practice, with attention to details, will soon enable you to become expert. When the job is completed, (if it be a front, or a band, or anything of that description), have ready a top row of weft, and sew it on as before instructed, press, and finish off in the usual way.
CHAPTER X.
Of Wigs in General, and some Historical remarks thereon—On Taking an Order for a Wig or Scalp—Means adopted for securing them to the Head—Directions for Measurement—On Mounting and Making a Scalp—“Pen-knife” and Metallic Springs—A Scalp described with Parting and Crown—Scalps with Gauze, Net, and Human Hair Foundations.
Of wigs in general how much could be written! They are almost “as old as the hills,” and perhaps amongst the ancient Egyptians might be found the earliest makers of the periwig, or peruke. Indeed, in the British Museum can be seen a wig from the Temple of Isis that was made two or three thousand years ago; the curl and material of which it is made being well preserved. Probably the custom of shaving the heads of the people (for all had to submit to it), led to the introduction of wigs, and, as Wilkinson says, “it may appear singular that so warm a covering to the head should have been adopted in the climate of Egypt; but we must remember the reticulated nature of the ground-work, on which the hair was fastened, allowed the heat of the head to escape, while the hair effectually protected it from the sun: it is evident that no better covering could have been devised, and that it far surpassed, in comfort and coolness, the modern turban.” According to Stow, the periwig was first brought into England about the time of the massacre of St. Bartholomew (1572), but the peruke is mentioned in a wardrobe account in the time of Edward VI. About 1595, wigs “had become so much the fashion that it was dangerous for children to wander out of sight of their parents or attendants, as it was a common practice to entice them into some private place and deprive them of their hair for the manufacture of such articles.”—Planche. During the reign of Charles II. the large wigs (such as are shown in Kneller’s portrait of the Duke of Marlborough) were introduced, and continued to increase in size till the middle of last century. Concerning prices, the following is interesting:—“Perukes,” says Malcolm, “were an highly important article in 1734. Those of right gray human hair were four guineas each; light grizzle ties, three guineas; and other colours in proportion, to twenty-five shillings. Right gray human hair perukes, from two guineas to fifteen shillings each, which was the price for dark ones; and right gray bob perukes, two guineas and a-half to fifteen shillings, the price of dark bobs. Those mixed with horsehair were much lower. It will be observed, from the gradations in price, that real gray hair was most in fashion, and dark of no estimation.”
The names of wigs, as may be judged from the foregoing, possess deep interest for the trade, and it is therefore worth while to allude to them. In the reign of Queen Anne, in addition to very long and formally curled perukes, are mentioned “black riding wigs,” “bag wigs,” and “nightcap wigs.” The famous battle of Ramilies, in the same reign introduced the “Ramilie wig,” with a long gradually diminishing plaited tail, called the “Ramilie tail,” which was tied with a great bow at the top and a smaller one at the bottom. In the reign of George II., the “tye-wig” and the “pigtail-wig” have to be added to the catalogue, and at the same time the revival of the “bob-wig,” first heard of in 1684, or one that is called after it, is also spoken of. The “bob-wig” is thus described:—“I cut off my hair and procured a brown bob periwig of Wilding of the same colour, with a single row of curls just round the bottom, which I wore very nicely combed and without powder.” Indeed, “the nomenclature of wigs is very ample,” says an authority on the subject, “a complete system of classification might be adopted, and genus and species discriminated with the greatest nicety: there were Wigs Military, Legal, Ecclesiastical, and Infantile,” room being found only for a few varieties, viz.:—
Perruque à bonnet.
Perruque à trois marteaux.
Perruque à nœuds.