We are sad to report yet another withering of French culture.

IN FRANCE, THE ART OF WIG MAKING IS DYING OUT

PARIS April 31, 2006 (IHT/AP) - Once among the country's most respected and powerful artisans, France's wig makers have been in steady decline since the 19th century, and are now on the brink of extinction.

[Marie-Therese Lebeau, master perruquier and proprietress of MTL France Perruques] is determined that her profession not go the way of so many of France's bygone traditional handicrafts, from bookbinding to blacksmithing. She owns what is thought to be the country's last surviving workshop that makes handmade wigs from human hair. ... When Lebeau was an apprentice in the 1960s, there were still a dozen perruquiers in France. But they have all since retired or died, she said. ... While MTL's orders are booming, Lebeau worries for the future.

Young people in France have no interest in learning such a labor-intensive trade, she said.

"These days, it's the Chinese that know how to work. Not the French."

BALD AMBITION, BALD LIAR, CHAUVINIST CHAUVE
Exposed Heads Seek Political Cover

PFFT (What is this?): A future France without wigs 4 | Rayonnement français 0