Lovely but Lethal

Remember those warm summer evenings of old when you’d hook up the propane, turn up the gas, light the flame, and…curl your hair?!

This “high-tech”, gas powered beauty convenience of its day was invented in the late 1800s early 1900s. Boasting “no more singed hair” it replaced the early methods of heating metal curling rods over stoves or open flames, reducing overheating and scorching burns. These gas curling irons first began appearing in beauty salons and were prized for their ability to heat evenly and consistently. By the 1910s, upscale salons used entire gas manifolds with multiple burners so several irons could be heated at once.

The flat tank with decorative feet kept the unit stable, a screw or lever valve controlled the gas flow, and brackets cradled the iron above the heat. Salon grade models were made with all metal handles; stylists handled them quickly and interchanged them with other rods to keep their hands from burning.
As these tools moved into more domestic settings, manufacturers began adding turned wooden grips over the metal shafts to protect users from burns. Such models were often nickel plated or elaborately cast to suit elegant dressing tables and owning one was not for the faint of pocketbook.

By the 1930s, as electricity became the common source of power for homes and salons, electric curling irons replaced these gas powered versions, and by the 1940s they were almost obsolete entirely.

With our modern convenience and safety regulations, it is hard to imagine even using such a device, never mind it being considered the safest and most modern method, but at the turn of the century, that’s exactly what these were.