Blow dryers: 1974-84 :)

[cfz2882]

not terribly interested in these as an adult,but was quite interested when I was ~8-10 :laBelles store had some realy nice ones in 1978 Mostly made in Japan/Taiwan/HongKong during this era,but a few were US made.Axial fans,Transflow blowers and centrifugal paddle fans providing the airflow.1974-84 seems to be the prime era for these hair dryers and I have about 20 of that era.

 

[robbinsandmyers]

Back in the 80's when I had a full head of hair, my go-to was always the Conair Pro 1250. It was very well made and I used to get quite a lot of use out of them before the cords failed at the strain relief. Not knowing fully how to fix things yet I would toss it after several years and buy another. Then they stopped making it in white and the last one I bought was a see through brown one. They were very smooth running and blew massive amounts of hair.

 

[DADoES]

 
My favorite was a Gillette SuperMax2 Adjustable.

I've never much liked the pistol-style units.

 

[foraloysius]

Not really interested in hair dryers either, but there was one model in the past that I somehow found looking great. It was an old Moulinex. Only 400 Watts, so rather anemic. But I guess it was the classic design and the two buttons that I liked.

I never use a hair dryer, except for defrosting the freezer once a year.

 

[mattl]

Still using my BD from the early 70's. It's a Norelco 1200-2.  Switch went bad  few years in, took it in for repairs -still has the sticker from the repair shop on the handle.  Many years later the cord went bad so I replaced that.  Still use it often, works fine and I still have the hair to need it especially with covid hair- 6/m and counting since last trim.

 

[ea56]

I worked as a Cosmetologist from ‘70 thru ‘85, and also worked as a Telephone Operator from mid’76 thru late ‘78, while still doing haircuts and perms at home for my special customers, and then worked for the last 6 mo. of ’79 for Hewlett Packard as a micro electronic assembler, again still doing haircuts at home.

 

In ‘74 when blow drying was really starting to come in here in Northern California I bought this 1500 watt Pearl Duck blow dryer by Dubl Duck.  In ‘80 I dropped it and cracked the casing on the nozzle, hence the duck tape.  But it didn’t hurt the runnin’ of it none.  

 

This dryer earned my bread and butter from ‘74 thru ‘85 when I finally left the hair business for good to work full time in the Human Services Dept.  This dryer is still in excellent functioning condition.  Its quiet and very powerful, both attributes that were essential when working professionally cutting and blowdrying hair.  Time is money!

 

Now I only use it to dry spills on my clothing.  I haven’t blown dry my hair for over 30 years now.  I have cut my own hair since I was 12 and still do.  I seldom even use a comb.  I still have a full head of thick, slightly wavy almost all white hair that I comb with my hands and fingers.

 

Eddie

 

[appnut]

I still have my Sunbeam 1000 var-i-matic that I got for Christmas sometime between 1973 and 1975. My oldest sister was glad I still have it when she was here 4 years ago helping me recover from surgery.

 

[yogitunes]

used to have a "Max for Men" blow dryer...in fact still do, but its a Norelco now...I liked the wide nozzle area for using a brush....

but since my hairline has made a beeline for my behind.....have no need for a blow dryer outside of drying my chest hair....

I do recall our scout leader demonstrating how to use a blow dryer on our undercarriage to prevent jock fungus/itch after swim lessons...

actually I dont miss the days of shampooing, conditioning, wash/rinse/repeat, curling irons, gels, hairsprays, mousse, antlers coming out of the moose, looking like Bullwinkle!....one hair out of place, and you had to start all over.....

those were the days!

 

[warmsecondrinse]

I blew dry my hair for a few years until I discovered punk in '80 or '81. A bit of hair gel and finessing and I was good to go.

I dabbled with perms in the mid-80's in an attempt to tame cowlicks. After a few years I gave up and went to the flattop I've had since.

Then all the gels started causing my skin to break out so I skipped that and went shorter.

Now I have the Covid Cut I do myself: Basic buzz cut with an attempt to flatten the top a bit

 

[mrboilwash]

I don`t need a blow dryer for my hairstyle but I`d catch a cold all the time if I don`t use one. Even if my hair is very short or in high summer heat I couldn`t live without one.

At the moment I have three.
My daily driver the BaByliss is a professionell one, well it`s a low end professional brand, but I like it.
Then of course I need a small dual voltage one for traveling just in case if cheap quarters don`t provide a hair dryer.
The old one is a flea market find I couldn`t resist. Its a bit scary even though I rewired it with a grounded cord. Don`t use it but it still runs flawlessly.

 

[DADoES]

 
This discussion led me to check eBay for Gillette Supermax2 Adjustable.  As sometimes happens, there was one touted as NIB.

The brush attachment (on the accessory handle) with hair and gunkus on it has obviously been used but appears the rest of it has not, including the cord still wrapped.

It runs OK, on a short test thus far.

 

[petek]

The first mens hair dryer that I recall being marketed on TV was in the late 60's or 1970 ish. THe Hot Comb by Gillette which looked much like that style Supermax pictured above. Up to that point, a man using a hair dryer was considered somewhat effete. The design of the dryer itself, not looking femininee along with the bevy of great looking guys and the advent of "The Dry Look" a mens hairspray quelled a lot of that and soon the market was flooded by copy cats

 

[circlew]

I couldn't remember what brand my first blow dryer was until I saw the one above - it was a Gillette Promax Compact. I got it sometime in the mid 70's for Christmas. After that I had a Conair for several years. Next was a Revlon that took an unfortunate swim in the toilet, so was discarded. I now have another Conair that's a jadite green color.

I use the dryer almost every time I wash my hair, as it takes too long otherwise. My hair is rather thick, and is shoulder length at this time, but planning on getting it trimmed in the next couple weeks, as I'm starting to look like a member of a rock group.

 

[yogitunes]

yeah, I remember those, like the Max for Men hatchet style...somewhat more manly....

versus the pistol grip for women.....

more or less a selling point....any yet, just realizing I have a heat gun out in the garage.....oh well, either one will help defrost the freezer!

much like Remington/Norelco having the electric razors.....black for men, pink for women(Lady Schick)....just a copy cat to appeal for both sexes...

amazing how manufacturers could sell you on anything......Dove beauty bar for women, Irish Spring soap because its Manly....my goodness, we would believe anything!

 

[mrboilwash]

It`s interesting you mention Irish Spring as "manly" because decades ago when the German equivalent Irischer Frühling was still on the market it was rather marketed as a unisex family brand.
It`s funny how we get brainwashed by advertising, isn`t it?

I`m surprised only few American men seem to use a hair dryer on a regular basis as using one might be considered effeminate. Do American barber shops send their customers out in the cold with wet hair?
Over here they`d use the "normal" pistol shaped ones.
One time I had a hair cut in the States, but it was only a dry cut and I haven`t paid attention if hair dryers were used on other customers.

I also think emancipation should go both ways. Fight for your basic rights if you still live in an intolerant society that denies you a hair dryer ;-)

 

[yogitunes]

I know were jumping topic, but are we buying stuff for the product, or for the person in the commercial?



love these Dr. Squatch commercials.....



Mike is handsome....

 

[ea56]

Re: Replies #13 and 14

Those Gillette Pro Max dryers were sold more as something that was easier to handle than a professional “pistol grip” blow dryer.  They made these both for men and women.  The average consumer could visualize using a dryer that more resembled using a brush or a comb and maintain some control over their hair, keeping it from blowing all over the place.  However, these dryers were slow, and never achieved the same results and volume that a so called effeminate pistol grip dryer did.

 

So these dryers didn’t stay on the market for long.  I bought one of these in about ‘72 when they first came out for home use.  What a useless piece of junk it was. As blow drying  hair became common place with both men and women we all learned to use the professional type of blow dryers by watching them being used by the professionals that cut our hair and by practicing.

 

I cut hair professionally from ‘70 to ‘85 for both men and women, straight and gay and I never once had any male customer turn down having his wet, freshly cut hair being blown dry because he feared his masculinity being questioned.

 

Eddie

 

[reactor]

back to blow dryers

My General Electric Blow Dryer can't compete with Dr. Squatch commercials, ha. (BTW, There are many more Dr. Squatch commercials online that are just hilarious!)

I have quite a few GE blow dryers here are two of them, one in box one out. I really like them. Got a good rating from Consumer Reports, except CU found the color coded speed/temp controls somewhat confusing.) There are many options of color combinations to give various temp/speed pairings.

I bought my first GE blow dryer in 1976. Even back then, GE was making them in China.

 

[reactor]

more dr. squatch

Hilarious

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