Green’s Dictionary of Slang

(US black) a wig, a hairpiece.

1921

W.C. Handy ‘St. Louis Blues’ [song performed by Esther Bigeou] Oh, that St. Louis woman, with her diamond rings, / She pulls my man around by her apron strings. / And if it wasn’t for powder and her store-bought hair, / Oh, that man of mine wouldn’t go nowhere.