Gas Hair Dryers

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mavei511

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Feb 3, 2006
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A while back there was a thread on the gas dryer that could dry your hair(see picture).Well,I have more information on gas hair dryers.(See the accompanying threads.)

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Allright,here's a description of the various types of commercial gas hair dryers once available.

"There are many styles of hairdryers. One of the most expensive is that in which the electric fan and heater are arranged in a cabinet. With this the current created by the fan is heated by the flame of gas and tempered to suit the customer. Another style is the one in which the gas heater is inclosed in a sheet iron oven or tube place in front of an electric fan in such a manner as to blow the hot air through the hair. Another style is the heater using gas only without the electric fan, but this is not considered as satisfactory, from the fact that hair should always be fanned or rubbed while being dried."

(Sounds an awful like our gas clothes dryers today,doesn't it?)

By the mid-thirties, gas heated dryers found their way into the salons but it dried the hair too harshly and the fumes left something to be desired. The patron and the technician alike complained about ill-effects of the carbon monoxide that the dryers were emitting and they were inhaling.(I wonder how many ladies had their hair catch fire???)

MORE PICTURES COMING!
 
Halliwell Shelton Electric Gas Hair Dryer

Description :
If you've thought that you've seen every kind of hairdryer imaginable, then we'll ask if you've ever come across one like this:

Commercial Halliwell Shelton 1923 Electric & Gas Hair Dryer. This one just came out of an estate in Philadelphia, was patented April 7, 1907, September 8, 1908, and on May 8, 1923. It is Type G45 manufactured by the Halliwell Shelton Electric Corporation of New York, Chicago, and London. It features a GE 1/12 H.P. motor which powers the fan, and is heated by two separately controlled gas burners. It has an "aero-dynamic helmet" which swivels 360 degrees for easy fitting over one's head, and has one push/pull lever for the control of air flow. It also features a three speed electric switch which needs a knob. Though it will need rewiring, we tested it and it runs well. This is magnificent looking antique hair dryer which is museum quality. It will make a wonderful showpiece and historical artifact. The base is 26" in diameter x 34," the helmet, motor, and gas mechanism is 12"x21"x33," and it weighs 60 pounds.

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Hair Dryer

Somebody at Norge sure meant well, and the hair dryer feature looks like it was well-designed. But I have to say that it looks like somebody forgot that most washers and dryers are in basements and the like, not beautifully appointed, colour-coordinated laundry rooms. I can hear one of the older ladies I grew up around snorting now: "And what do I do with THAT? Sit there in the cellar and look at mah shelves uh canned termaters while mah hair dries?" And, I promise you, they'd have passed on such frippery, while congratulating themselves for having outsmarted somebody trying to sell them something they didn't need.

Those ladies were a tough bunch, not to be messed with by Madison Avenue, LOL.
 
Still another(and last view) of the Halliwell Shelton.

I wonder how easy it was for the flame to be sucked up by the blower into the "helmet" and burn the hair?

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This one dates fron the teens and reminds me of our propane and kerosene portable heaters used in garages,warehouses and construction sites.
Note the novel comment,"hair dryers are objected to by a great many customers" I wonder why...

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This one is in a private collection somewhere in Europe.
It's also the most modern(and scariest).
Look how close the burner is to the hair!Inches away!
Note the pilot light supply tubing.
Loks like someone crossed a gas clothes dryer with a commercial hair dryer.

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From the UK,here's one without the fan.
Kinda like a gas appliance without a connected flue. Note the damper lever in the exhaust tube.

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New hand-held model

Here's a patent for one that I believe has just been marketed.
It uses those butane cartridges similar to lighters,the fan powered by two 1.5 VOLT "C" or "D" cells and is probably related to the gas hair styler by Braun.(Wonder if they got this patent?)

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That last unit looks like it has the hair rising up on convection currents of the heated air.Notice all the controls.I wonder what that wheel does?
 
A picture of an actual model like above

This one was taken out of a beauty shop in Blackpool,England in the late 1960s when the changeover was made from manufactured gas to natural gas. It dates from about 1930.

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Drying the hair with gas

This 1928 photo from Canada shows the technique of drying the hair with the combination of vacuum cleaner and the gas oven.

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Toggleswitch says gas flames are best for hair and beauty ca

oh darlings if you are going to put anything in my mouth WORDS would be my LAST choice.

SEE now information like this is PRICELESS and fascinating.
(I) THANK YOU dear poster for taking the time to do so.

(It makes all the public beatings and the BS worth it!)

Someone in Massachusetts has the pictured vac. Perhaps he would like to tell us about it as well!

*LOL* Gas oven and vacuum cleaner?
Hugely resourceful but O M G !
 
They had 220V heated rollers here in those days

There were some rather terrifying appliances invented for use in salons in the 20s/30s.

E.g. my grandmother told me about plug-in perm machines

Worked on 220V 50Hz power supplies and you were protected by a very high tech fuse.

This is photo is from the US, but they were the same design and equally leathal.

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