‘A Niagara of Curls’: The Story of the Seven Sutherland Sisters

Criminalia

Shondaland Audio and iHeartPodcasts

True Crime, Society & Culture

4.4 • 1.2K Ratings

🗓️ 21 May 2024

⏱️ 33 minutes

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Summary

“It’s the Hair – not the Hat That Makes a Woman Attractive,” read one ad for the Seven Sutherland Sisters’ scalp cleaner. Sisters Sarah, Victoria, Isabella, Grace, Naomi, Dora, and Mary Sutherland were performers who sang and played instruments, but what the crowds came to see was their hair; primarily because there was, collectively, 37 feet of it. By 1880, they were billed as the "Seven Wonders" – and just four years later, their patent hair tonic had made them a fortune. This is a Victorian rags-to-riches story. Well, it’s more of a rags-to-riches-to-rags story. As it goes.

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0:00.0	A new season of Bridgerton is here and with it. A new season of Bridgerton the official podcast.
0:08.0	I'm your host Gabby Collins. And this season we are bringing fans even deeper into the ton.
0:13.6	Watch season three of the Shandaland series on Netflix.
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0:22.2	on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your
0:25.4	podcasts.
0:26.4	Subscribe to catch a new episode every Thursday. Welcome to Criminalia, a production of Shondaland Audio in partnership with I Heart Radio.
0:38.0	It's the hair, not the hat that makes a woman attractive, read one ad for the
0:49.1	Sutherland's Sculpt Cleaner. Sisters Sarah Victoria, Isabella, Grace, Naomi, Dora, and Mary Sutherland
0:57.4	were performers who sang and played instruments, but what the crowds really came to see was their hair.
1:04.0	It was the stuff of legend, primarily because there was collectively 37 feet of it among them.
1:12.0	By 1880, they were billed as The Seven Wonders and just four years later their patent
1:18.0	hair tonic had made them a fortune. Welcome to Criminelia. I'm Maria Tremarki.
1:24.0	And I'm Holly Fry.
1:26.0	The sisters were all born in the years ranging from 1845 to 1862,
1:31.0	and they lived with their parents, Fletcher, and Mary Sutherland on a turkey farm in
1:35.8	cambria near Niagara Falls in upstate New York.
1:39.6	The farm had been established decades earlier by their grandfather, Colonel Andrew Sutherland, who was
1:45.3	esteemed for his role defending the Niagara Frontier during the War of 1812.
1:50.5	Mary, well we're going to call her Mary Senior for clarity because we have both the
1:55.2	mother and a daughter with the same name in this story. Mary Senior is
	...

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