Bald Is Beautiful

It has long been classified as a disease. The ancient Egyptians tried to cure it with the application of equal dollops of the fat of a lion, a hippopotamus, a crocodile and a serpent. "Ashes of little frogs, applyed suddenly, cureth the Fall of Hair," promised another early recipe. Through the receding centuries, man has tried to treat the bane of baldness with elm-tree bark, watercress, onions, creosote, cholesterol and cortisone.

Now, suddenly, a new wind is blowing among the hairless. Not since the days of Yul Brynner's dominion as the King of Siam has the denuded head been so in. Instead of lamenting their defoliated domes, some 1,000 baldies in 42 states and five foreign countries have joined an organization called Bald-Headed Men of America (BHMA). The group, which this month celebrates its first birthday, has a proud credo: If you haven't got it, flaunt it.

Ribald Humor. BHMA's head man, so to speak, is John T. Capp III, 33, of Dunn, N.C., who founded the organization so that bald men could "cultivate a sense of pride and eliminate the vanity associated with the loss of one's hair." Despite its name, BHMA is open to both sexes; all one needs to qualify is a bald spot. So many are applying that Capp is considering holding a national convention of baldies next summer. In the meantime, members like Roy A. Palmer, 41, of Raleigh, N.C., hope to further the bald cause. Says he: "We're a minority. Every business ought to have a bald-headed man." Members also share news and a little ribald humor via BHMA'S quarterly publication Chrome Dome. Sample: "Baldies were the original streakers. We just started from the top."

The bald look, rather passe in politics since the days of Dwight Eisenhower and Speaker Sam Rayburn, has again become topical now that Jerry Ford is Head of State. During his recent senatorial campaign, for example, Utah Republican Senator Jake Garn plastered his state with billboards reading: "Garn-candid. Garn-decisive. Garn-aware. Garn-bald." He won by 25,000 votes. When some of his constituents suggested that he wear a toupee, California's Democratic Senator Alan Cranston replied: "If I went to all that trouble to cover up my head, editorial writers might theorize that I was covering up something else as well." Other public figures who are flaunting their hairless hairlines: Singer-Composer Isaac Hayes, Comedian Don Rickles, the Oakland Raiders' Otis Sistrunk and America's Cup Skipper Bill Picker. Unquestionably at the forefront of these notable noggins is television's Kojak, Sex Symbol Telly Savalas. Baldness, says Savalas, "takes us back to Day One and the way we looked when we first came into this world. 'Bald is beautiful' was the first comment we made."

Is bald really beautiful? Indeed it is --at least in the eyes of a bevy of female beholders. "Bald men seem more intelligent," says Mrs. Jake Garn. Says Soprano Beverly Sills: "There's no doubt they're very sexy." Agrees California Beauty Salon Entrepreneur Aida Grey: "A bald-headed man is very exciting." About eight months ago, in fact, Grey became aware of the new trend (particularly, she notes, among attorneys) and developed a special wax treatment that removes any remnant fringe.

In more candid moments, some baldies confide that all is not Brylcreemless bliss. They are bothered by sunburned scalps and cool breezes. BHMA member Palmer complains that whenever he eats his favorite spicy Mexican food, his bare scalp sweats profusely. Other baldies confess that their billiard-ball crests age them prematurely. Gripes one: "I was the only kid in the third grade who looked like he was in school on the G.I. Bill." But to most men whose hairlines have disappeared, happiness is a bald head. Says Senator Garn: "God has made very few perfect heads. The rest of them he covered with hair."

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