Hi, I am Joshua Mason and I am a Newport Historical
Society living historian. This style wig is really common for a fashionable
young man in the 1770s. Although extremely simple with its two curls
and not quite finished in the back, just missing a silk bag, this high pomp really sets it
apart almost the style of that of a macaroni. This style here is known as the bob wig. What sets it apart are these multiple curls
kind of blended into one curl. It’s generally an older style it’s also
really common though for sailors not done so elegantly but with multiple other layers
of curls underneath it. The piece back here is a plaited club. I’ve braided some hair together and I’ve
clubbed it in the back which means taking the hair and folding it underneath and just
a simple black silk bow to tie it all together. The owner of the shop and the most skilled
person in it would be the Master. The person below him also doing the work but
did not own the shop would be the Journeyman. And the youngest people in the shop who were
just starting to learn their trade were Apprentices. Those people would be hired out by their families
and would learn the trade working their way up to the Journeyman stage, and then eventually
to Master themselves perhaps. The most expensive wig you could possibly
buy would be a human hair wig but the second most expensive would be something made out
of animal hair, perhaps yak or even horse this example here made out of yak. The first step in styling a wig is to comb
out the hair to get the pieces even and straight. I can use a comb made out of wood or perhaps
even a comb made out of cow’s horn molded into the shape. The next step would be to apply a layer of
pomade. I would take this animal fat substance, typically
cow, lamb or sheep and apply it to the hair. This gives the structure needed. From there I would apply just a little bit
of powder with my fingers by pinching it and applying it to the hair, or perhaps using
a boar’s hair brush. Taking the powder, putting it on and just
flicking it on to the wig itself. Once I got the piece pomaded and starched,
it’s then now time to set the curl. I would take some curling irons and heat it
up on a braiser. Then to see if they’re the right temperature
I would take a piece of cloth that’s been dampened and apply it. Depending on how rapid the sizzling is or
how much heat I could feel through the cloth, that lets me know if the irons are too hot
or perhaps too cold. I would then take the hair, wrap it around
and then twirl it up. The hair itself, pomaded and starched, kind
of insulates my fingers from the heat. I would hold it there just for a few seconds
then to set the curl itself. Taking that out. Most wig makes probably would have kept using
the irons however there is evidence of using a wooden dowel to wrap the curl up. I’m getting it in line with the top curl
or buckle, setting it at the height level and width I’d like, pulling out my dowel
and taking two U-shaped steel pins and attaching that. Now they’re not like modern day pins that
kind of have this grip, so you have to do a bit of weaving and pinching itself to the
hair to get it to stay. The very last step after all the styling would
be one final layer of powder. Powder itself is made out of starch and is
usually mixed with some kind of animal bone, sometimes fish. Applied to the hair sometimes with a boar’s
hairbrush just gently flicked on and then I can brush any loose hair and powder to spread
it out evenly into it. It not only gives it a matte finish but it’s
sometimes scented and it dries up the oils in the hair preventing it from being too greasy. A wig like this would take much longer than
the wig behind me per say which only has two curls. Each of these curls has to be individually
done. The longer it takes me to do the wig style,
the more expensive the wig will get. Depending on the wearer’s usage will depend
on how much the wig will see service. If someone’s wearing a wig every single
day, it might be two to three days before I see the wig back in the shop. A more formal wig like this one not being
worn every day might come in once a week or perhaps once when the wearer’s decides to
wear it. Wig wearing was extremely common for men in
the 18th century but by the latter half it was sort of dying out. Younger men were typically wearing their hair
long and styling it themselves. However older men and some younger men preferred
the fashion would still continue to wear wigs.
