THE "BRUSH BACK"

Southland Times, Issue 18816, 8 May 1920, Page 6

THE "BRUSH BACK"

WILL WEARERS GROW BALDt

AUTHORITIES SAY RISKS ARE GREAT. Amongst the “Americanisms,” suCh. as sac suits, soft collars and'felt hate, that have found their way from" the land of the- Star Spangled Banner into a find position,, of popularity in Britain and the , dominions, must' be. included’the 'Ornish back.” ‘More (recent than the. departures, previously . then* tioned has been its’advent in New Zealand, but, from all appearances it j bids fair to'be as lasting a fashion, although not so widely | worn. Who do not-remember ,the first bold spirits who, as,impervious to their fellows' comments as were the advance guard; of the “hatless brigade,” adopted, the brush back ? Theirs was an act ■ doubly heroic, for, apart from the so crept* tkme winks that were general when they appeared amongstfriends, the training of the. hair to Re back smoothly from the brow until it,resembled I a piece of seal akin, required a deal of patience before the mirror. It is true., that they deserved the popularity that..afterwards .came to the fashion —popularity, thefoundations of which were laid.by hours of. honest and dexterous toil in the silence (.?)- of .the bedroom. And now comes the . sad part of this, history. of the “brush back,” Perhaps the Times representative who qsked his barber his opinion, on this particular vogue .had an idea, of-adopting it himself.lf so, "theremark 1 of the aproned one changed- his mind. “Do you wish to be bald before you. are forty?” came the startling query. The victim of modem quick-shave methods wap emphatic in his denial of any such desire. “Then don’t grow a brush back,” was the advice. And.no. more information could he learn from this man whose knowledge of tonsorial matters is undoubted. ) Bat the counsel was sufficient to- send the pressman to a chemist who is aloo something of an authority on such matters. “If I do. not wish to be bald before I am forty, why should I not grow -a- brush back?” he asked. The reply came swiftly; “If I wish to grow lettuce why ■ should I not cover them with sacking to-shut..out ■ the air and light?” Then the fault of the “brush back” dawned on the reporter. When the hair- on the front of the head is brushed over all the rest, and- its position is never altered except in the’occasional process of cleansing, there might be a -tendency for the covered root? to die. When he put his idea to the chemist be was informed that he was correct. Explanations were then- given by the man behind the bebottled counter. “A Woman is different, you see,” be said. “Her hair is bang continually -made up in different, styles while , every day it is thoroughly combed out at least once. But a man whose hair » worn in the ‘brush back’ fashion sridom disturbs it sufficiently to let the under-hair have light aud air. Consequently, it is my .'firm' belief that before many years pass \ most of those wearing ‘brush backs’ will lose a goodly portion of their hair. Even lately, I have noticed that the bait otn the heads of a number I know is'.becoming thin 'and, under the extra-kmg fringe growth, • w•loping ■ its lustre, bet young men think of these poasibilitieß before appearance.