Can't live without it!

=>Everyone knows the term regarding men "Can't live with them, cant live without them!"  Well that's how the hot comb is viewed in the black community, except that African American women CAN live with it.  The hot comb is something that is embedded in the African American culture and holds a huge significance in my opinion.  If African Americans were to believe that we could live comfortably without the hot comb, then Lord have mercy on us all about our physical appearance. I know beauty comes from within, but when you look good you feel good and I believe having your hair done and looking decent plays a major role in looking good.


=>If women could live comfortably without a hot comb black owned beauty supply stores and salons would go out of business.  And since the business is still booming and has not seen a decline in years then maybe just maybe the African American community NEEDS the hot comb.

Hot Comb and Society

=> The hot comb finds itself in the personal beauty portion of society.  Meaning that it helps with the everyday appearance of a person and since we live in a society where outward appearance is important then the hot combs finds its place in society regardless. 


=>Back in the 1900's African American women whose hair was straighter and silkier were viewed as they were more established into America's society; and the women who still had nappy hair were further more discriminated against.  It was almost as if they were seen as not as worthy as ones with straight hair.


=>Therefore the hot comb gave those women an opportunity to have a chance to be considered more established in a society that claims they were not.


=>In the month of November, CSUN's African Student Organization(ASO) hosted an event called the "Hair Dialogue" during its annual Africa Week.  At this event is was discussed that women who do not straighten their hair looked at as if they are less desirable in comparison to the ones who do.  Opinions and statements were taken from both men and women and the same answers were repeatedly given.  The answers were that women who had a good upkeep of hair were of course way more accepted than the ones who did not.


QUESTION: Do you think it is necessary for a person to have straight hair to viewed as someone fit in society?

Who Benefits?

=>Are African Americans the only ones that benefit from this wonderful invention?  The answer is NO!!!!!...  Even though this invention has transformed the way African Americans wear their hair but the hot comb actually benefits other races as well.  Anyone with coarse and difficult hair can use a hot comb if they desire to have easy to manage hair.

Video!!!!!

=>Here we have someone, just like me that instead of going to the shop to pay and press their hair out, they rather do it themselves.

How to use a hot comb

My mother Funmilayo Akinboun

=> My mother was the one who taught me how to use a hot comb and straighten my own hair.  To perfect the craft of straightening my hair, my mother's younger sister that owns her own beauty supply as well as her own hair salon taught me how to effectively straighten my hair.  The videos that are posted below are descriptions on how to use a hot comb.

=>This first video, a hairstylist is showing the proper technique of preparation for using a hot comb.

=>This video is the exact technique of how the hot comb works as well as how to effectively achieve the goal of straight hair.

What it's Made Of and it's Purpose

Pictured above are my personal hot combs both manual
and electric.

 =>The entire purpose of the hot comb is for women of African descent with moderate or extremely coarse hair can have an opportunity to have straight manageable desirable hair.  Today there are two different types of hot combs used to achieve this goal.

Pictured above is the manual hot comb

 =>The first and most effective type of hot comb, is the iron comb with the wooden base.  This the most effective type of hot comb because of the amount of heat it holds that is used to straighten the hair. It's made of iron for the comb portion and wood for the base.

Pictured above is the electric hot comb

=>The second type of comb is the electric hot comb.  I personally only use this comb for travel purposes, due to it not being as effective as the manual hot comb.  This hot comb does not heat up as hot as the manual one, and in my opinion is really only beneficial for minor touch ups.

History of the Hot Comb and it's Inventors

The hot comb was originally produced in France for women with a extremely curly hair who desired to have straight hair.

Annie Malone

=>The common hot comb we know today was invented by one of the first female entrepreneurs of African descent who later on became a self made multi-millionaire, named Annie Malone.  Malone was born August 9th, 1869 and later on died on May 10th, 1957.  She lived in Metropolis, Illinois with her eleven siblings until both her parents death. Soon after being orphaned, Malone moved to Peoria to live with her older sister and that's when she started to take an interest in different hair textures.  During that time Malone innovated the previous hot comb from France as well as other hair treatments that were beneficial to the African American community.

Madam CJ Walker

=>Madam CJ Walker formally known as Sarah Bleedlove is thought to be the original inventor of the hot comb, but we know that is not the truth.  Walker was born December 23rd, 1867 and died May 25th, 1919 at 51 years old.  Walker was actually Annie Malone's employee/ protege and further innovated the comb that is currently used today, by widening the teeth of the comb.