But even Billy is getting used to having his hair set after his thrice weekly bath and being sent to bed with damp hair tightly wrapped in prickly metal rollers, each held in place with a hairpin and covered with a hairnet.
Of all the girls in his class at school, Billy outwardly appears to be one of the girliest and his teacher Miss Wainwright always goes out of her way to say how pretty his dress looks and how nice his ringlet and ribbon clad hair looks. The other girls wear one or maybe two ribbons whilst Billy wears four, five or sometimes six in his hair. Alice is shamefully and secretly envious of Billy as Mrs Postlethwaite never puts her hair in ringlets. She has asked but was told that her hair is too thick, too wiry and too red.