Bobby Pins, Hair Pins, Rollers, Oh My

Bobby Pins

 I remember my mother using bobby pins to put those little spit curls in my hair as a child.  Of course, the spit curls never stayed the way they began the day due to the natural wave in my hair but my mother tried.  Over the years, I've used them to hold my hair in buns, etc but I've never really given them any thought until just recently when I came across a note on them.

Bobby pins are only about a hundred years old.  They are simple and seem to be nothing more than a piece of metal folded with one side flat and the other ribbed.  Bobby pins were invented by Luis Marcus during the early 20th century but in the 1920's, Flappers used themto keep their hair in place. This small object could be placed in the hair while remaining invisible and that is what the women loved about it. He first sold them for 35 cents per pair but never got rich off of them.  Originally, he planned to name them after himself but ended up naming them Bobby after bobbed hair.  At one point in history, the term Bobby pin had been trademarked and its use by Proctor and Gamble lead to a court case which they lost.  Currently, the term is commonly used and is no longer covered by trademark protection.

Hair Pins

Bobby pins should no be confused with the similar looking hair pins because bobby pins tend to have a tighter fit.  Hair pins look like a rounded piece of wire with a small ribbed area on both sides.  The distance between the sides is larger than in the bobby pin.

These U shaped pins are designed to hold hairstyles in place.  They are lighter and hide in hairdos better than bobby pins.  They require a different application.  I've been told to bend the edges and hook them into the hair, flip and shove.  Honestly, they hold more hair than bobby pins but I've never actually managed to use them well.  They usually fall out after 5 minutes so I need to have someone work with me to learn to use them.

Last topic for today are curlers, not curling irons, but curlers also known as hair rollers.  The ones my mother used were either the pink ones with a snap on them or the wire bristle ones.

Hair rollers really came into use during the 18th century when people wore wigs.  These rollers were quite different from today's but they provided the look people wanted then.

Before the rollers came on the scene, women used rags to curl their hair. They wrapped hair around a rag strip, tied it, and removed the cloth when the hair was dry.  The interesting thing about rollers is that curlers that used heat were invented first.  In 1906, the first long lasting curl system appeared in which the hair was smeared with a caustic soda solution before being heated with electricity.  After 6 hours or so, the women had curls but it wasn't until 1930  an African American, Solomon Harper, produced the first hair rollers that needed no heat to create curls.

Foam rollers became quite popular in the 1930's and continued to be popular until the 1950's when velcro rollers hit the scene.  These made looser waves than the foam rollers but they grabbed hair better due to the brushy surface.  The next stage in roller development happened in the 1960's when everyone used can's with bobby pins to make large loose curls.  By the 1980's bendy rollers hit the market so you could bend then around the hair almost like rags.

I've got a set of the bendy rollers because they produce a nice curl and are comfortable to sleep on.  Much more comfortable than the older ones.  Let me know what you think, I'd love to hear.