The Wondrous World of Hair Waving Devices - A Collection

  My favorite vintage hairstyle has to be the beautifully sculpted waves of the 1920's-early 1930's.  Finger waves, water waves, Marcel waves - no matter if the hair was short or long, it was always in some sort of wave.  By the mid-1930's, waving one's hair was going out of style in favor of fluffier, less sculpted looks, and is a bit of a lost art.  In my vintage journey I've tried many times to achieve that iconic waved hair look, and what helped the most was using not only the same techniques, but as close to the original products as possible.  There are similar modern waving products out there, but as an avid antique collector I've been lucky in finding a variety of unique waving devices that are just what I need to learn how to create more authentic hairstyles.

Would you believe most of this I bought as one 'lot'?  My small collection grew to a large one in a single purchase!

The oldest pieces in this collection are from the 1920's.

Here is an image from an eBay sale showing the box.

Cut off scanned page from Sears, Roebuck & Co. catalog from Spring 1922.
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Page from Sears, Roebuck & Co. catalog from Fall 1923.
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Here are two sets of celluloid waving combs - no markings, but my research shows they are: a full set of Sears, Roebuck & Co. Water Waving Combs, circa 1922; and a partial set of Sears, Roebuck & Co. Water Wavers, circa 1923. 

 

 

Here is a NOS(New Old Stock) set of Sanitary Kid Leather Curlers.  I don't yet have the courage to open this pristine package, so I doubt I'll ever try them(link on how to make reproduction kid curlers below).

The rest of this collection hails from the entirety of the 1930's.

Here is a full set and partial set of wave setters.  I found a few of these sets on cards for sale online, so I know what they are, but since the setters aren't marked I haven't a clue about the brand or exact year.  I assume 1930's by the imagery, but they could be later 1920's as well.

 

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Here is a full set and possibly two partial sets of Goody Water Wavers, patented on September 30, 1930.  These wavers say 'patent pending', but Goody has so many patents that it wasn't too hard to find this particular invention.

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Here is a large amount(two sets and one extra) of Mervin Wave Clips, patented on November 29, 1932.  This type of clip can still be bought today, but the advantage of the older ones is their size - they're smaller, which is good for waving around the head.

 

Here is a full set with card of Vassar Wavers, presumably early 1930's based on the artwork.  It's hard to tell if these were ever used, but the foam of the curlers has started to degrade and they are unusable now.  The card, however, is beautifully illustrated and would be worth purchasing on its own. 

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Here is a full set of Goody Wave Clips, patented on May 12, 1936.  

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Here is the main piece from a set called Hold-Bob, this being the Hold-Bob Hair Curler, patented on November 30, 1937.  This product is the first sign of the death of the structured wave - it is used to make pin curls, and originally would have come with a set of bobby pins.  

 

And last but not least, is a 1920's-1930's curling iron with painted wooden handles, made in U.S.A.  The metal barrel is held over a flame to heat up and then used to curl the hair, similarly to using a modern electric curling iron.  This was the first hair device I ever collected, though I doubt I'll ever use it for safety reasons(meaning the safety of my hair!).

Further Research:
A great 1920's-1930's(and a bit earlier) resource: TheLongHairedFlapper on Youtube - here are her videos on Kid Curlers and 30's Curlers(like the Vassar Wavers)