The curse of the Sutherland sisters: they got rich and lost everything because of their hair

Despite the abundance of short haircuts, chic long hair is still attracting attention to this day. And before they were considered one of the main attributes of female beauty. Moreover, a fortune could be made on long curls. For example, the Sutherland sisters in the 19th century managed to earn from their hair a cosmic sum of 3 million by those standards. dollars. The incredible curls of the seven sisters reached lengths from 1 to 2.1 m.They helped the girls become real stars, but fame and wealth did not bring them happiness

Magic elixir 

The Sutherland sisters were born into a poor family of an American farmer. Father and mother could hardly make ends meet, and could not give their daughters any education or good views for the future. Seven girls helped their parents on the farm from an early age. They were not particularly beautiful and, according to all forecasts, should have continued their parental life in poverty.

The only virtue of each of the sisters was the beautiful long hair. The mother considered them a family heirloom and did not allow the girls to have their hair cut. Every day she strengthened her daughters' curls with a special tincture. This home remedy smelled unpleasant, but the hair grew much faster and thicker.

A few years after the birth of her youngest daughter, the mother died, leaving the girls in inheritance only the recipe for the elixir. In memory of her, the sisters continued to grow their hair until it reached incredible length. The oldest girl, Sarah, had the shortest curls, “only” 90 cm. The second in a row, Victoria, wore the longest head of hair, 2 m and 10 cm. For the rest of the sisters, hair length averaged from 1.2 to 1.8 m.

Circus glory

The first impulse of the father after the death of the mother was to marry his daughters as soon as possible. However, the farmer noticed how people admire the girls' hair. He decided to make a tool for making money out of it: he insisted that his daughters learn to sing in a church choir, and then brought them to the circus company Barnum & Bailey.

At that time, not only athletes and gymnasts performed in circuses. People gladly went to see those who were not like the others. The Sutherland sisters, with their amazing hair, attracted attention no worse than Siamese twins and bearded women. They looked like mermaids, sang well, and rather quickly became the "highlight of the program" at Barnum & Bailey.

Successful business

People from all over America came to the sisters' performances, and journalists in interviews persistently asked to reveal the secret of luxurious hair. The enterprising father quickly realized that it was also possible to do business on this, told the legend about the magic tonic according to the recipe of the deceased mother and patented its manufacture. An elixir called "The Seven Sutherland Sisters" began to be sold first at the performances of the girls, and then in all the pharmaceutical stores in the country.

The cost of the "magic remedy" was not so cheap: from 50 cents to 2.5 dollars. At that time, it was a weekly salary for the middle class. By the way, the composition was unremarkable: the tonic consisted of witch hazel extract, laurel cherry water, magnesia and salt. However, thanks to the fame of the girls, bottles of the elixir sold like hot cakes. The sisters managed to earn 3 million by selling them alone. dollars.

The Sutherland sisters quickly tasted the delights of wealth and popularity. They built a luxurious mansion on the site of their old farmhouse. It had 14 rooms, parquet floors, crystal chandeliers and, most importantly, hot water. At the time, only the wealthiest Americans could afford such chic.

Falling stars

While the father was alive, he controlled the daughters and did not allow them to try too much. But after his death, the girls went all out. They threw noisy riot parties, where there was a lot of alcohol and drugs, and after that they went on stage with church chants. The glory of the Rapunzels gradually began to fade, but the main blow awaited them ahead. At the beginning of the 20th century, a short bob haircut came into fashion, and sisters with mermaid curls and a magic tonic became of no interest to anyone.

If the Sutherland family were more careful about money, the girls would calmly live out their days on a percentage of the profits. However, they were used to spending every last cent, and could not give up their addictions. Very quickly, they drained their entire fortune, and the family idyll fell apart. One of the sisters died of illness, the second ended up in a psychiatric hospital, the third died in a car accident, the fourth was "addicted" to morphine, and the fifth was evicted from the house due to the fact that she married a guy younger than her by 30 years. The last of the sisters died at 92, penniless: she was buried in an unmarked grave for the poor.

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