Long Hair

By 1800, seven sisters living in upstate New York impressed crowds with their long hair . As the date having long hair was not a common habit, the sisters ended up entering the world of show business. On demand, they traveled the world to do small shows in cheap museums, performances in circuses and even at open fairs.

Famous Sisters

The Sutherland sisters – Sarah, Victoria, Isabella, Grace, Naomi, Dora and Mary – were born into a humble family. All, without exception, grew up on a farm whose activities were aimed at raising turkeys and, as was usual, always helped with domestic activities.

When they were little, the mother washed the girls’ hair with a homemade lotion that, according to a report published by the news portal Ripley’s, was capable of making the locks grow.

After years of using the lotion, everyone’s hair grew dramatically and, oddly enough, followed the same pace. When they were invited to enter the universe of show business, the hair of the Sutherland sisters measured 11.3 m – a length that, for the time, was far too exaggerated.

As soon as they entered the exotic attractions market, the young women began to be known by various nicknames, including the 7 Wonders of the World and the 7 Young Girls with the longest hair in the world.

In The World Of Show Business

Interestingly, the Sutherland sisters had other aptitudes. When they were invited to participate in the first events , the girls proved to be excellent singers. Nevertheless, even performing alongside talented musicians, people flocked to their shows only to see them tossing their hair.

Even not caring about the girls’ vocal quality, the audience raved during the shows, after all, at the time, any woman who thought herself respectable always kept her hair up and, therefore, see the sisters swinging her locks between one note and another it was, say, the pinnacle of innovation.

Realizing that the public’s interest was restricted only to long hair, the sisters stopped focusing on their talents to conquer another market: advertising.

Advertising

As at the time, much of the advertising was done through serials and fairs, the young women started to participate in various events to market the homemade hair lotion that their mother produced. To make the business even more promising, the young women said that the recipe was secret, which ended up arousing high interest among high society women.

The incredible thing here is that the lotion recipe had been exhausted with the mother’s death. However, in order not to miss the opportunity to earn money, the sisters invented one. The lotion created by the girls was made from alcohol, oil and water.

Faced with this and the eagerness to increase profits, the Sutherland sisters started to manufacture ointments and soaps. It is estimated that the girls were able to earn about US$90,000 from sales that were made in the first year alone.

In 1893, when Naomi died, the sisters, so as not to harm their business, hired a replacement. The business only stopped being promising when short hair returned to the trend. In all, the sisters have earned about $3 million over their careers.

The girls used the money to build a mansion on the farm where they grew up and spent the rest of their lives together.