Monday, October 25, 2010

Permanent wave machine at AHS Museum

Billie Jones Kanan's tale of her 1928 visit to a midwest beauty shop for a 'perm' was disastrous enough for her to later recount it in detail: (Courtesy of Wisconsin Historical Society) .

It took all day, and cost $1 each….First our hair was washed and cut, then we waited and waited. There were women everywhere in different stages of getting beautified. Everyone was waiting….My hair wound up on spiral rods so tight that I thought I would never blink again [and] after the machine that looked like a milking machine was attached to the rods, I couldn't move. [Then] it began to steam and tears rolled down my checks. …[finally] someone got a blower and cooled my head here and there, but my scalp was scalded.


The new Open Storage Exhibit at AHS Museum at Papago Park shows a "Hodge Podge" including a Permanent Wave Machine, a Goat Treadmill, Barry Goldwater's Ham Radio and a large stove for a school to teach the domestic chore of Ironing.

Members and guests viewed the new Open Storage Exhibit during the Membership Open House Thursday, October 21. Guest speaker Wanda Carlack was a wealth of information about early Historical League functions.