My sister found several small vintage items at home today, but she doesn’t know their purpose. Have you ever seen anything like these?

Small cylindrical instruments called perm rods, perm rollers, or curling rods are used to create permanent waves or curls in hair. As a mirror of shifting beauty standards and technological capabilities, these heirloom pieces have been crucial in the development of modern hairstyles.

An Overview of the Background and Early Developments of Perm Rods

When “perms” (permanent waves) were all the rage in the early 1900s, perm rods were a relatively new hair treatment. A device that could keep the hair in place throughout the chemical perming process was required in order to get the desired results of curly or waved hair. The first perm rods were cylindrical in form, plain, and manufactured from metal or plastic.

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