Perm hairstyle; permanent wave; permed hair; Dauerwelle

Thirties • The Tight Perm

Thirties from about 1929 to 1937

The "Permanent Wave" to give it's full name was anything but permanent.
A rain shower could destroy a perm in minutes or it could simply go flat overnight.
Soft wave hairstyles had appeared in the second half of the twenties but the tight perm is very much the hallmark of thirties fashion..

Hairdressers marketed a styling method under the trade name "Marcel Waving" which involved heat and chemicals. Perms, especially Tight Perms were often termed "Marcel waves" by the women of that day.

The demand for
"Bobs"
"Shingles"
and "Perms" had created new business and from the mid twenties onwards hairdressing shops were being opened even in smaller small towns.

At home many women use curling tongs heated either on a gas stove or spirit lamp to produce tight waves. Once established these tight curls needed to be protected and maintained and various clips and pins were available for this purpose. Many a woman spent a sleepless night caused by going to bed with a hair filled with metal clips and pins. They would tolerate this discomfort for one reason only which was simply the hope that their tight "pin waves" and "finger curls" would be protected until the following day.