Label
Hair Dryer, 1950-1960
Standard Products Corp.
Whitman, MA
Metal
Gift of Olive Romerio Franzi, 2008.59.5ab
Some innovations are no less important because they are small and highly personal. The hair dryer was invented in France in the 1890s, and became available for personal purchase in the 1920s. By the 1950s and 1960s, two major changes had greatly improved the tool: using plastic for the casing, making it lighter and easier to hold up for the necessary time, and an improved electrical motor, making it heat up faster and more efficiently.
Millions of American women entered the workforce during World War II, and many of them never left, continuing to make gains through the second half of the 20th century. With that rising tide of women’s participation in the economy and the business life of America came the need for less expensive, more accessible beauty products, of which the hair dryer was one.
This hair dryer, the “Handy Hannah” model, was made out of metal, but had other improvements: it was one of the first to introduce a heat control mechanism. It was especially popular during the 1950s, and belonged to a woman in Montpelier whose career spanned five decades with Green Mountain Power.