The History of Hair Dryers

In the late 1800s, Thermicon brushes served as early hair dryers. The “brushes” were made of stoneware and could be filled with boiling water before combing through the hair to help dry it quickly. By the early 1900s, the first chrome-plated dryers could be seen in hair salons. The first handheld hair dryers debuted around the same time, but they were cumbersome and had a power source that was so large it could double as a vanity! Thankfully, smaller models that were more suitable for middle-class households soon followed. The hooded salon dryer many of us are familiar with today came out in the 1930s and played an integral role in many of the hairstyles that would become popular for women over the subsequent decades. But it wasn’t until the 1960s that the lightweight handheld hair dryer we are familiar with today debuted. The handheld home hair dryer allowed women to dry and style their hair at home and remains a popular hair styling tool to this day.