The Evolution of Hair Science

A book published in 1901 called Macfadden's New Hair Culture: Rational, Natural Methods For Cultivating Strength and Luxuriance Of The Hair shows just how far hair science has come over the years.

Following are some interesting, and often comical, excerpts that have been disproved over the years:

·         “The principal reason why a woman's hair is stronger, and grows longer than the opposite sex, is that it is allowed to grow long from very early youth. The combing and general care of the hair necessary in the life of a girl also strengthen the hair very greatly.”

·         “Some claim that women, being less engaged in mental labor, and having less business worries, are able to secure a more constant and even supply of blood to the scalp.”

·         “When the hair is allowed to grow long in the early life of a girl, the nourishment of long hair is possible, but when kept closely cropped as in boys, conditions are decidedly different. The scalp is not so thick and not so much blood is attracted to it, and naturally when weakness or conditions are such as to produce a weakening influence on the hair, the male is far more liable to lose his hair than would a female whose hair is more strongly rooted and nourished.”

·         “Dead hairs should never be allowed to remain in the scalp; they should be plucked as soon as they can be easily removed. Under these circumstances, if they are removed another hair always grows from the same follicle or root sheath; but if this dead hair is allowed to remain until it falls out on its own accord, it often kills the root, and the hair never grows again.”

·         “Baldness cannot be inherited any more than can consumption.”

·         “The hair obtains its color from the coloring glands situated nearer the surface than the hair-root. When these glands are destroyed by any means the hair naturally loses its color.”

·         “The direct rays of the sun are a tonic of great value for the hair; they impart a luster and richness of color which can be acquired in no other way...Sun the hair all you can on every occasion.”

·         “The color of the hair seems to have quite an influence upon woman's chances in marriage. A far greater proportion of light-haired women live and die unmarried than those with dark hair.”