The Seven Sutherland Sisters pose for a publicity photo. When appearing with Barnum & Bailey's, their photos were usually arranged so that their hair touched the floor.
The Seven Sutherland Sisters was a singing group which included the seven daughters of Fletcher and Mary Sutherland of Lockport, New York.[1] They appeared with Barnum and Bailey's from the late 1880s to the early 1900s.[2] Their distinguishing feature was their long hair; publicity about the length and texture of their hair enabled the Sutherlands to create a successful line of patent medicine hair and scalp care products.[3]
Family
Grace Sutherland, about 1890
The Seven Sutherland Sisters was a family act from Niagara County, New York that performed worldwide to great acclaim.[4] Daughters of Fletcher and Mary (Brink) Sutherland, they started doing concerts with a brother in the early 1880s, and three years later the sisters were traveling with Barnum and Bailey's "Greatest Show on Earth."[4]
The children of Fletcher and Mary Sutherland included:[5]
With fans fascinated by their hair, which reached a collective length of over 37 ft (11 m), Fletcher Sutherland went on to create a patent medicine, "The Seven Sutherland Sisters Hair Grower", which was mostly witch hazel and bay rum, along with traces of hydrochloric acid, salt, and magnesium.[3][8][9] The tonic quickly became a best seller, and the line of Sutherland Sisters hair products expanded to include a scalp cleanser, brushes and combs, and "Hair Colorators."[3] In addition to wholesaling their products to retail stores, they also made public appearances at retail outlets, and maintained several outlets of their own – "parlors" where customers could consult with a salesperson and make purchases—including one in New York City.[4] When Naomi died in 1893, the Sutherlands auditioned for a replacement, and hired Anna Louise Roberts to join their act.[6] Roberts made headlines in 1927 when she was over 60 and her husband and she became destitute as the result of a house fire.[10]
The Sutherlands resided in a mansion they built in Warrens Corners, New York, which burned down in 1938.[11][12] Even though hairstyles changed over time, and the short hair of the flappers became fashionable in the 1920s,[6] the Seven Sutherland Sisters hair care products were successful for years after their singing act ended in the mid-1910s; print ads for them appeared in newspapers until the mid-1920s.[13]
Published accounts indicate that the sisters did not save or invest wisely, and some of them later became destitute.[6] When the last living sister, Grace, died in 1946 at age 92, she was buried in an unmarked grave.[6]
