A sure way to look like a lady from another time is the use of a decorative hair comb. These pieces of art have been mostly gone in fashion, but were widely used in hairstyles until around the 1910s and 1920s. Watchers of period dramas like Downton Abbey will most likely have seen these accessories in action.
Mary Crawley with a hair comb peeking from the right side.
Early examples were made of anything from ivory to tortoiseshell to various metals, and were not only decorative as the title suggests, but did help to hold a lady's hair in place. The invention of plastics, like celluloid and galaith, reached the hair comb industry and boomed, especially since they could be carved and molded which made them perfect(and cheaper) substitutes for ivory and tortoiseshell.
As the hair was worn high on the head at this time, so was the comb, reminiscent of a crown.
Late Victorian 'coiffures and combs'.
Catalog mentioning imitations for natural materials.
Beautiful and unique comb with a 1920s coiffure.
Fingerwaves and comb.
Auguste Bonaz advertisement, a prominent maker of hair combs in the 1910s and 1920s.
Since I've been learning how to incorporate older fashions into my everyday life, I couldn't help but try to add some hair combs into my collection. They can be surprisingly hard to find in antique stores, I suppose since they've been out of fashion for so long, and are usually a pretty penny. However, I've been lucky enough to find three pieces in magnificent shape, and one that, sadly, has succumbed to celluloid rot.
Spanish mantilla style, faux tortoiseshell, not sure if celluloid or galaith, carved.
Black celluloid, faceted black gems(probably same material) attached.
Black celluloid, my favorite piece.
Amber and black celluloid, showing signs of rot on the amber part.
What is celluloid rot? Most might not think that plastic would degrade within a hundred years, but old celluloid is different. The chemicals were not as stable as plastics nowadays, and can start to decompose. There are a variety of conditions that can cause celluloid rot(temperature, humidity, sun exposure, and lack of oxygen), and once it has started there's no fixing it, and worse still, it has been known to spread to other pieces if in close quarters. Being new to collecting celluloid, I didn't know what the rot looked like until I bought a comb that was surprisingly cheap. I should have known there was a reason for the low price on this large and gorgeously carved piece, but I just thought I could clean it up and all would be fine.
What I had thought were just cracks are actually a common sign of the camphor molecules in celluloid being released - a sure indicator of celluloid rot.
After some research into how to clean celluloid, I stumbled upon some photographs of what celluloid rot actually looked like, and I was saddened to see the same damage on my lovely new acquisition.
More signs of decomposition - bubbling and rough textures. Celluloid rot is more common in lighter colored celluloid, most likely because there are less fillers which makes the celluloid less stable. I've never seen examples of rot on black celluloid, but that doesn't mean it isn't possible.
Luckily I hadn't had it long enough to put it with my other combs, and immediately boxed it up in cardboard(something to let air get to it so as to not exacerbate the problem) and moved it as far from my combs and all other celluloid as possible. I now know better and thoroughly inspect any piece of celluloid before I buy it for this damage, but I don't let this mistake discourage me from continuing to add to my ever-growing celluloid collection.
