Edwin Creer

Writing in late 19th-century London, Edwin Creer was a specialist author on hairdressing and wig-making. The title page of Board-Work; or the Art of Wig-Making, Etc. identifies him as the editor of The Hairdressers’ Chronicle and also credits him with earlier works including A Popular Treatise on the Human Hair and Lessons in Hairdressing.

Board-Work, published in 1887, was aimed especially at young men entering the trade. In its preface, Creer explains that the book grew out of material first published in The Hairdressers’ Chronicle and was revised and expanded into a practical manual. That straightforward teaching purpose gives his work much of its appeal today: he was not writing as a distant theorist, but as someone trying to pass along usable shop knowledge.

His surviving reputation rests on that hands-on clarity. For modern listeners and readers, Creer offers more than instruction—he captures a working craft world of razors, hair preparation, wigs, and professional training at a time when those skills were central to everyday grooming and stage presentation.