Hairdryer
B. Perkin and Son
Category
Metalwork
Date
c. 1880 - 1900
Materials
Brass and wood
Measurements
230 mm (L)
Place of origin
England
Order this imageCollection
Wightwick Manor, West Midlands
NT 1288759
Caption
For thousands of years the options for drying one’s hair were limited mainly to using a towel or sitting by a fire. Victorian ingenuity and manufacturing capacity created an explosion of inventions for new products covering every aspect of daily life, including hair and beauty. This item may resemble a weapon, but it is the forerunner of the brush hairdryer, repeatedly brushed through the hair to dry it. It was one of many personal grooming products launched in the late 1800s. In 1890 French stylist Alexander Godefroy invented the first enclosed hairdryer, a bonnet connected to a gas stove. With silverplate and a decorative handle, this was a relatively expensive model, made by B. Perkins and Son, manufacturers of metal products in the East End of London. There were cheaper ceramic versions. The Science Museum has two stoneware Hincks & Co. ‘Thermicon’ examples (A650887/2). Their instruction label reads: ‘FILL IT WITH BOILING WATER, AND It Dries the Hair after Washing in a few minutes’. It was certainly safer than many early 20th-century electric hairdryers.
Summary
Hand held hairdryer, brass hot water container with steel screw opening and four spikes to brush through hair. Black wooden handle.
Marks and inscriptions
B Perkin and Son/Simpson Patentee (stamped)
Makers and roles
B. Perkin and Son