Each year, men spend an enormous amount of time and money searching for a cure to male pattern baldness. Numerous psychological assessments indicate that the reasons behind their futile efforts are sound: attitudes toward bald men are overwhelmingly negative.
From the first torturous attempts at hair implants to the faddish, well-hyped drug treatments of today, the extremes to which men have gone in an effort to regrow hair or cover their bald scalps are examined in this work. The various causes for baldness advanced by credible members of the medical establishment over the years are detailed, as well as instances of outright quackery prompted by numerous individuals and companies. Wigs, weaving, transplants, flaps and scalp reduction are among the techniques explained.

Cultural historian Kerry Segrave is the author of dozens of books on such diverse topics as drive-in theaters, lie detectors, jukeboxes, smoking, shoplifting and ticket-scalping. He lives in British Columbia.

Kerry Segrave
Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 222
Bibliographic Info: notes, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2009 [1996]
pISBN: 978-0-7864-4079-5
Imprint: McFarland

Preface      1

1 Bald Facts and Fictions      3
2 Hats, Ivory Domes, Razors, and Dangerous Barbers      14
3 Everything Under the Sun      32
4 Rubbing, Blistering, and Electrifying      51
5 Desperately Seeking Hair      66
6 Wigs and Weaving      91
7 Implants      99
8 Transplants, Flaps, and Scalp Reductions      109
9 Celebrities and Politicians      121
10 Bald Attitude      129
11 This Is Not Snake Oil      147

Notes      171
Bibliography      195
Index      209

“the author considers theories of the causes of male pattern baldness, cures of hair loss from the medical establishment, various kinds of quackery, and attitudes towards what he calls ‘rugs, plugs, and drugs’”—Reference & Research Book News.