Part 2

Among the shop's other patrons were innkeepers, blacksmiths, a saddler, a silversmith, printers, clergymen, physicians--indeed, from wealthy planters like Robert Carter, Ralph Wormeley, and John Page to such unglamorous persons as Humphrey Harwood, plasterer and brick mason, Charlton made wigs for them all.

_THE MOST POPULAR PERUKES_

The French _Encyclopédie Perruquière_ listed 45 styles of wig in its 1727 edition, 115 styles in that of 1764. While a complete catalogue is impossible here, some description in words and pictures of the most frequent varieties may assist gentlemen of the twentieth century to choose (in their mind's eye) the style that would suit them best. The wigs pictured and described do not presume to share the amazing characteristics claimed by a London maker of 1760. His advertising avowed:

to ecclesiastical perukes he gives a certain demure, sanctified air; he confers on the tye-wigs of the law an appearance of great sagacity and deep penetration; on those of the faculty of physick he casts a solemnity and gravity that seems equal to the profoundest knowledge. His military smarts ... [give] the wearer a most war-like fierceness.

As for color, any style might be made up in any of the several colors favored for wigs: black, white, grizzle (an iron-gray mixture of black and white hair), brown, and flaxen are mentioned most often in surviving accounts. Less popular shades included milk white, light natural, yellowish, pale, chestnut, auburn, piss-burnt, and gray. Red was deemed a "disagreeable colour" for hair and was rarely if ever used in wigs.

The styles here shown were all popular at some time during the eighteenth century, though perhaps some of them were worn more often in England and France than in the colonies. On the other hand, a popular colonial style, the "Albemarle" wig, is not in our catalogue because nothing has been found to tell what it looked like.

No eighteenth-century illustration of a bob wig, so labeled, has been found. This picture, from Diderot's _Encyclopedia_ (like all the others in this group) shows a "bonnet" or "short wig." The brown dress bob favored by so many of Edward Charlton's customers must have been very similar. A plain bob presumably had fewer curls, but neither it nor the dress bob would have had any queue or hanging side curls.

This "brigadier wig" shows what a few of Charlton's patrons ordered from him. It was known also as a major wig and a military wig. The "tye wig" mentioned in Charlton's accounts must have looked very much like this (again we lack any clear contemporary illustration) except that it had more than two curls tied at the nape of the neck.

What Charlton called a "queue wig" might have been any wig with a tail--or even with two, like this double pigtail. The tails were usually bound tightly with black ribbon, though sailors used leather. A single queue, braided but not bound, with a large bow at the top and a small bow at the bottom, was known as a "Ramillies wig" after the battle at that place (1706). The wearer of a Ramillies often doubled the end of the queue back up to the wig and held it with a comb or ribbon.

In the "bag wig" the long hair at the back was simply tied inside a black taffeta bag, usually with a rosette of black ribbon for decoration. In England and France this style, like so many others, was carried to such an extreme that the bag eventually covered the wearer's entire shoulders. The exaggeration at least had the virtue of protecting his clothing from the pomade and powder of the wig. It was going out of fashion in Virginia by Charlton's time. Note the small strap and buckle on the wig.

By the time of Diderot's _Encyclopedia_, the "square wigs" shown here were the nearest remnants of the full-bottomed wigs that had gone out of style about 1740. These last can still be seen, however, in portraits of royalty and nobility of the seventeenth century and early years of the eighteenth, and of course the style still holds for English judges when they are on the bench.

This, incredibly, was called a "natural wig," and was supposed to resemble the wearer's own hair. It fell down behind in long, straight locks, ending either with a single roll, or tapering away into a series of ringlets.

The resemblance between this "knotted wig" and its distant predecessor, the full-bottomed wig, may not be apparent at first glance. The flowing locks of the full-bottomed and campaign wigs (the latter having two long curls falling to the front of each shoulder) were inconvenient to travelers, sportsmen, and soldiers. So they adopted the habit of knotting up the curls on both sides and tying together those in back; eventually this expedient became a style in its own right, but with a single corkscrew curl in back.

The "cadogan" or "club wig," its name attributed to the first Earl of Cadogan, became popular in England in the 1770s, especially with the foppish young men who called themselves "Macaronis" and went to absurd extremes in style, wearing cadogans several times the size of this modest example. The queue of straight hair was looped back on itself and tied with string or ribbon to form a vertical bow of hair.

This is the kind of clerical wig, with built-in tonsure, that Roman Catholic clergy in France wore. 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. But the basic procedures in the eighteenth-century manner of perukemaking are the same for any style, and can be set forth briefly under the following seven headings:

(1) _Taking the Measurements_--The customer's head (preferably shaved) is measured with a strip of paper about an inch wide, each measurement being recorded by a scissor-nick in the edge of the strip. There are five essential dimensions to take: (a) from the top center of the forehead over the head to the nape of the neck; (b) from one temple to the other around the back of the head; (c) over the top of the head from ear to ear (to the top of the ears for a wig "with ears," i.e., with ears showing, to the middle of the ears for a half-eared wig, and to the bottom of the ears for a full-bottomed wig); (d) from the middle of either cheek to the back of the head; and (e) from the top center of the forehead to either temple.

(2) _Preparing the Hair_--Before it can be used in wigmaking, hair must be cleaned, arranged according to length, quality, and color, and curled. Tied in small parcels, the hair is cleaned by thorough powdering with fine sand or mill dust from a flour mill; this absorbs the oil and grease from the hair and is then shaken out. Next the hair is combed or carded through a "hackle" and separated into parcels of different lengths. The wigmaker's vise, fixed to the table top in a horizontal position, holds each parcel of hair in turn (by the root ends) while the craftsman rolls the hair--in a curl-paper--onto curling pins made of pipe clay. These rolls he boils for three hours and then partially dries in a small charcoal oven. The loaded curlers are then piled up, taken to the bakery, covered with a shell of rye dough, and baked in a moderate oven. 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.

(3) _Making the Pattern_--The wigmaker's pattern is a weaving pattern; it shows how many rows of hair will be needed in a wig of the customer's size, how long each row must be, and how long the hair in each part of each row must be in order to make a wig of the desired style. On a piece of squared paper the wigmaker draws as many parallel lines as his measurements of the customer's head tell him are needed. Each successive line will be longer or shorter, also, as may be necessary to fit the customer's head. On each line--or portion of a line--he marks the length of hair he will use in that part of the wig. In determining this the wigmaker relies partly on his own experience, partly on pattern books or similar sources.

(4) _Weaving the Hair_--The rows of hair are woven on a simple frame of two upright posts holding three (or six) silk threads stretched tight. The wigmaker takes several strands of hair by the root ends and weaves them around the silk warp threads, using one of a number of possible weaves. He continues weaving a few strands at a time, sliding the woven strands tight together until he has a strip of weft as long as the pattern calls for. He winds the finished strip onto one post as more thread unwinds from the other, and does another row. If the frame holds six threads, the lower three are used for the right side of the wig (with the curl of the hair toward the weaver) and the upper three for the left side (with the hair curling away from the weaver).

(5) _Mounting the Caul_--From his assortment of hollowed out elm or ash wig blocks of different sizes and shapes the wigmaker selects the one that corresponds to the customer's head measurements. On it he outlines the proposed wig in inch-wide "mounting ribbon" of silk, carefully measuring, stretching, folding, and lightly tacking as he goes. Then he fixes the ribbon firmly in place with strong thread stretched around two rows of small nails, called "wig points," one row on either side of the ribbon. Next he sews a fine net of cotton or silk to the mounting ribbon all around, with appropriate folds and tucks to fit the curvature of the wig block, and trims off the excess. He then adds two strips of "covering ribbon" three and a half inches wide across the top of the wig, one from front to back, the other from side to side, basting them to the net and sewing them firmly to the mounting ribbon. He may add a drawstring or even a small strap and buckle at the back so the wearer can keep his wig on tighter.

(6) _Sewing the Strip of Weft to the Caul_--Following his pattern for length of rows and length of hair, the wigmaker now sews to the caul the strips of weft he has previously woven, using a simple straight stitch. Except for the rows framing the face, which start at the front edge and go backwards, the rows are sewn beginning at the bottom and back and working upward and forward. Rows of short fine hair are sewn very close together, the rest in parallel rows a quarter of an inch apart. Different styles, of course, may require a particular sequence of sewing the proper combination of short, long, curled, straight, or horsehair tresses to achieve the desired result.

(7) _Finishing and Dressing the Wig_--As the words imply, these processes call for the deft use of comb, fingers, curling iron, and scissors to trim and shape each curl and each bunch of straight hair to graceful perfection. Finally, the wigmaker adds a rosette, a bag, or ribbons as the style demands, and pomade, powder, and perfume to the customer's desire. The powder, incidentally, may be had in various colors and serves to maintain the wig in the proper shade or tint of brown, black, gray, or white. In fact, blue powder was not unknown.

_STYLES AND PRICES_

If brown dress bob wigs at 43 shillings each were by far the most popular of Edward Charlton's products--he sold sixty in one year--they were by no means the only style he made. Perukes not only came in almost endless variety; their prices differed likewise. Even wigs of the same style from the same maker could vary widely in price (according to the kind and quality of materials, care in workmanship, etc.) as the accompanying advertisement shows.

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. Put another way, a suitably cheap wig might easily cost a journeyman his wages for two to three weeks, while a wealthy planter might pay nearly as much for one "Grisell Tye Wig" as a servant's board cost for a year.

THOMAS CLENDINNING, Wig-Maker, in _GLASGOW_,

UNDERTAKES to furnish all the Gentlemen in _Virginia_, that are pleased to favour him with their Commands, in WIGS of _all Sorts and Fashions_, at the Prices under-mentioned, according to the Goodness and Size; in which Particular he promises to restrict himself to the lowest Rates he charges any of his Customers living in _Glasgow._

He is always posses'd of a large Stock of the _best HAIRS of all Colours_; and, as he proposes to keep the _best Workmen in his Employ_, and to regulate his _Fashions_ by the _present Mode_ at _LONDON_, he makes no Doubt of giving _entire Satisfaction_ both in the _Goodness_ and _Cheapness_ of his WORK, which will be considerably under the _London_ Prices.

_Fair Bob Wigs_, from 30 _sh._ to 3 _l._ _Grizled Brigadier Wigs_ and _Roses_, from 14 _sh._ to 30 _sh._ _Grizled Spencer Wigs_ and _Roses_, from 14 _sh._ to 25 _sh._ _Grizled Bobs, Long_ and _Short_, from 14 _sh._ to 30 _sh._ _Brown Brigadier_ and _Spencer Wigs_, from 10 _sh._ 6 _d._ to 16 _sh._ 6 _d._ _Black Bobbs_ and _Black Naturals_, from 8 _sh._ to 12 _sh._ _Pale_ and _Brown Bobs_, of the best Kinds, from 8 _sh._ to 12 _sh._ And all _Sorts_ for BOYS.

The Method he would propose to take in answering his _Commissions_, is as follows:

"That the Gentlemen forward their Orders to himself, or to any of their Friends in _Glasgow_, expressing the Colour, Fashion of the Wigs, and Dimensions of the Caul, and the Price about which they would have the Wigs made up.

"Or, if they lodge a _Memorandum_, as above-mentioned, at the _Rawleigh_ Tavern in _Williamsburg_, several Copies of the same will be forwarded to him by different Opportunities, and he will immediately, upon a Receipt thereof, have the Wigs wrought up agreeable to the Directions, and sent to _Virginia_ by the first Ship that offers, directed to the same House, where they may be called for.

"Upon Delivery of the Wigs, the first-cost Price to be paid at the current Exchange, together with the common Premium of Insurance, and Six Pence a-Pound, as Commission, for the Trouble of receiving and delivering the Wigs, and remitting the Money from _Virginia_.

"He will charge nothing for the Boxes nor Freight: And, if the Wigs do not please at Sight, the Gentlemen are not bound to take them.

"Each Gentleman's Name shall be mark'd upon the Wigs; and along with each Box there will be sent an Invoice of the Whole, distinguishing the several Commissions, and including Insurance.

"And, that the Gentlemen may be the better satisfied that Justice is done them in the Prices, _&c._ the Wigs will be examined, and the Invoice attested by Mr. _RICHARD OSWALD_ Junior, Merchant in _Glasgow_."

_At_ Glasgow the 25th February, 1744-5.

THOMAS CLENDINNING.

Charlton's account book shows that shaving and dressing also came at different prices according to the services given. The charge for a year usually amounted to two pounds three shillings. It might, however, be as little as the one pound five shillings that Peter Pelham twice incurred or as much as the four pounds that Speaker Randolph paid. Pelham, organist at Bruton Parish Church and keeper of the colony's gaol, found time in a busy life to father a family of sixteen children but never got around to paying his little debt to the barber. The account book shows it, along with 13 years' accrued interest, still unpaid in 1784.

Besides the 60 brown dress bobs he made in 1770--seemingly a typical year for him--Charlton sold 20 brown dress queue wigs, three grizzle bobs, one each of three other styles, made curls or dressed ladies' hair on 28 occasions, and had 42 annual customers for shaving and dressing. During the court or Assembly sessions many additional patrons demanded these last services. All of his 1770 business should have brought Charlton well over £300 in 1771, when most payments would have been made. Actually he received roughly £260 in that year, with the balance probably dribbling in over the next decade--or in some cases never paid.

The difficulties of debt collection were among the reasons why so many colonial Virginia craftsmen sought to augment their income by branching into some other activity. Williamsburg wigmakers favored innkeeping as their second occupation. No fewer than five operated ordinaries or provided lodgings, and one of them, Robert Lyon, moved on to become a merchant. David Cunningham served as the town constable for several years, and Alexander Finnie, of course, left the wig trade entirely to become host of the Raleigh Tavern.

In addition to wigmaking, shaving, and hairdressing, Andrew Anderson practiced dentistry and phlebotomy (bleeding). But these were traditional phases of the barbering craft, not extra occupations--albeit only Anderson among Williamsburg barbers practiced them so far as we know.

Charlton at one time took a flier in real estate along with John Stretch, bookbinder and bookkeeper in William Hunter's printing office. The partners bought the playhouse and lot (about where Mrs. Campbell's Tavern now stands) from Lewis Hallam, proprietor of the Company of Comedians recently from London. The evidence is inconclusive, but suggests that the venture was not a glittering success.

From time to time Charlton recorded the sale of such items as a "Ferkin of butter," a gross of bottles (apparently empty), "eight pounds Chooklate," stockings, "five Hundred Limes," a piece of linen, three dozen strong beer, one "cheas," and part of a lottery ticket. However intriguing these entries may be, they are too infrequent and irregular to support a conclusion that the barber was running a retail store on the side. When so much business was done by barter, any craftsman might have incongruous articles to sell.

Like the Silversmith James Geddy, Jr., and other craftsmen of Williamsburg, Charlton once served on the city's common council. This position carried no compensation, but election to it showed that a man's neighbors trusted and respected him.

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. George Lafong, whose Williamsburg wig shop rivaled Charlton's in the early 1770s, ended as a beggar in 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. Frequently in court as witness, plaintiff, or defendant in suits over property, debts, etc. Sold out to William Peake, Yorktown barber and wigmaker, and was preparing to leave for England when he died suddenly in 1752.

_Stephen Besouth_--Died April 3, 1726, leaving an estate appraised at £40 12_s._ 1_d._ and consisting almost solely of articles suitable to barbering and wigmaking.

_Daniel Blouett_--Arrived in Virginia in 1700 as a Huguenot refugee. Bought a lot in Williamsburg in 1713, the deed identifying him as a "Peruke-Maker." Died in 1720. His name was variously spelled (or misspelled) in different records: Blouet, Bluet, Bleuet, Blewitt, Blewit, Blewet, Blouett, and Blouette.

_John Borton_--The _Virginia Gazette_ of March 3, 1768, published a list of letters in the post office waiting to be claimed by their addressees. One was for "John Borton, perukemaker, Williamsburg." Nothing more is known of him.

_Simon Brazier_--A partner of Anthony Geohegan, Williamsburg barber and wigmaker, from April to about November 1768.

_John Bryan_--A partner of Alexander Maitland in the wigmaking craft in 1752 and later sole proprietor of a shop on Williamsburg's main street. Possibly moved away from the town in 1756.

_Edward Charlton_--In 1752, soon after arriving from London, became a partner of Richard Gamble in the latter's shop next door to the Raleigh Tavern. Continued the business after Gamble's death and was the town's foremost wigmaker until the Revolution. Died sometime between 1783 and 1792.