Hot comb

During the late 19th century, Dr. Scott's Electric Curler was advertised in several publications including the 1886 Bloomingdale's catalog[6] and in the June 1889 issue of Lippincott's Magazine[7] Marketed to men to groom beards and moustaches, the rosewood-handled device also promised women the ability to imitate the "loose and fluffy" hairstyles of actress Lillie Langtry and opera singer Adelina Patti, popular white entertainers of the era.

Baum's Hair Emporium, a store on Eighth Avenue in New York with a large clientele composed mostly of African American women, advertised Mme.

[10] In May 1915, the Humania Hair Company of New York marketed a "straightening comb made of solid brass" for 89 cents.

[12] The La Creole Company of Louisville claimed to have invented a self-heating comb that required no external flame.

[14] Indol Laboratories, owned by Bernia Austin in Harlem, offered a steel magnetic comb for $5.00 in November 1916.

The hot petrolatum used with the iron was thought to cause a chronic inflammation around the upper segment of the hair follicle leading to degeneration of the external root sheath.

The study concludes that the term follicular degeneration syndrome (FDS) is proposed for this clinically and histologically distinct form of scarring alopecia.