I was down in the cosmetology department of the school I teach in last week to talk about a project that will involve my photography students and I noticed a vestige of a bygone era. So while I was waiting to speak, I took a few photos of this multi-tentacled device standing in the corner.What is it? I'm guessing people of my generation will know. It is an electric curling machine. Today, of course, it has been replaced by the hand-held curling iron.Several years ago, in a unit on the Scientific Revolution, I asked my students to list the most important inventions of all time. In all seriousness one girl listed hair spray and the hand-held curling iron as #1 and #2. Little did she know what people in the 50s and 60s used. (Incidentally, the student listed the wheel and the printing press as #3 and #4!)
curling iron