I think it more likely that they were whiting them further as lead oxide
powder was a common white pigment. Perhaps this was part of the "dotty old
man" routine as the more they inhaled the stuff the dottier they got.
Sign me: Brain dead
-----Original Message-----
From: Ken Follett <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
<[log in to unmask]>
Date: Monday, July 26, 1999 8:47 AM
Subject: Re: Painting wood shingles
>On the subject of lead, paint, salad or otherwise.
>
>Kathy reading Trollope this last weekend mentioned a reference to men
leading
>their beards. We are curious if venal older men of the 19th c. were in the
>habit of using a lead comb in order to darken the color of a whitened
beard?
>
>][<en
>