Combs are as old as mankind itself. The Bible mentions that Eve tempted Adam with an apple and that he did eat of the forbidden fruit, but it is certain that before tempting him Eve made herself more alluring by using the five pronged combs with which every human being is equipped, namely her fingers, to disentangle and arrange her flowing tresses. This process of beautification and adornment has never ceased and never will so long as the world exists.
Excavations all over the world reveal examples of combs dating from earliest times, and the great Museums have specimens of rare excellence and charm. One of the earliest samples is to be seen in the British Museum, and consists of a bone comb of the period 5,500 – 4,500 B.C., that is, pre-Egyptian Dynastic period. There are also examples of bone combs discovered recently during excavations at Calah, a city of Assyria which is mentioned in the book of Genesis, Chapter 10, Verse 11. It is in Egypt and Assyria and later Greece, the cradles of our civilisation, that evidence and information about combs in the beginning of things is to be found.
The Egyptians especially took pleasure in adorning themselves and wore in their hair such articles as beads, feathers, combs, pins and shells. The combs were often decorated with carved animal figures – the antelope, the giraffe and birds – no doubt with a special significance to the people of that time. They are true works of art, and were often ornamented with gold and silver. A semi-circular comb, its back plated with gold leaves, dating back to the time of the 16th Century B.C., and typical of the combs worn by women during the era of Mycenaean culture has been discovered during excavations of burial chambers cut deep into the rock.
The British Museum contains an ivory comb from Cyprus of this period decorated.with the head of a gryphon, the fabled monster with an eagle’s head and a lion’s body on one side, while the other side shows two cranes drinking at a fountain. A Roman comb bears a carving with the words and letters MODESTINO V.H.E.E., which translated means ‘Excellent maiden, deserving of honour’ – a very pretty compliment from some Roman warrior to the lady of his choice.
Combs are mentioned by Heroditus and by Ovid, who states they were made from tortoiseshell. Combs have played an important part in the superstitious and religious experiences of mankind. In Malacca the women of a certain tribe wear ornamented combs to prevent illness, each dedicated to the protection of its owner from a particular disease, and the witch doctors prescribe the type and design of comb to be carried according to the diagnosis of the patient’s malady – just as our Health Scheme prescribes a “bottle of something to ease pain”. Some combs were very successful in effecting cures and were handed down as treasures from generation to generation, and in fact were buried with their owners to safe-guard them on the great journey into the Unknown.
No-one can say with certainty when combs were first a part of Church ceremonial. Probably long before the Christian era, but their use continued through Mediaeval times at least to the 16th or 17th Centuries. In pagan times they were used by worshippers to adorn the statues of their gods, and it is known that worshippers of Venus left combs in the temples to win her favour, while the people of Argos consecrated a gold comb for the use of Pallas, goddess of wisdom. Ceremonial combing continued in the Greek Church and in the early English Church, but was discontinued in the early 16th Century, except in consecrations where it was used to re-arrange the hair after anointing.
From what has already been said I hope we have established beyond doubt the antiquity of the comb and the important part it played in the lives of our earliest ancestors. From the many excellent examples of their craftsmanship we can admire their skill, learn something of their ideals and aspirations and appreciate that in their own way and in their own times they lived their lives with the same human experiences around them as we have today.
We turn now to a study of the materials and methods used in the manufacture of combs. First of all – the materials. I propose to deal in a general way with the various materials used in comb manufacture and to follow this up by a study of developments in certain countries, where local conditions played an important part in establishing comb manufacture on a large scale. Wood, bones, ivory, mother-of-pearl, horn, tortoiseshell, bamboo, glass, slate, animal claws, fish bones, walrus teeth, lead and other metals were
all used before the introduction of the newer materials such as vulcanite and celluloid. It is impossible to consider them all in detail, but the following are worthy of special mention:
Wood.
One of the earliest wooden combs was probably made from yew twigs bound with fibre, but boxwood was especially favoured because of its hardness and lasting properties. In Japan, for example, the name for boxwood is “Tsuge” which means to tell, and it is recorded that the maidens of old Japan rubbed their fingers against the teeth of boxwood combs, as by so doing they believed they could discover the constancy or otherwise of their lovers from stray remarks and fragments of conversation. It was mainly due to the abundance of large supplies of boxwood from the forests of the Jura mountains that the comb industry was established in Oyonnax in the South of France, a matter I shall deal with at greater length
in considering the industry in France.
Ivory.
Ivory has always been an important material for combs, and many beautiful examples are to be seen in our museums with intricate and delicate carvings, in fact some of the finest that have been done in this material. As would be expected, India and the countries adjacent to it provide examples of fine design and workmanship. The Singhalese in Ceylon are especially noted for the quality of their combs.
Tortoiseshell.
Tortoiseshell has provided another material for combs, and for many years was regarded as the most important material for high quality articles. In 1782 a London hairdresser, James Stewart, in a book called “Plocacosmos – or the Whole Art of Hairdressing”, expressed the belief that the art of hairdressing is on a plane with valiant deeds and intellectual accomplishments, and stated that a well turned out tortoiseshell tail comb must always be used.
Horn.
When we come to consider horn as a material for combs we are dealing with something which, while as old as nature itself, is also closely related to the modern synthetic materials used by the comb industry of today. For many centuries it was the most widely used and accepted of the materials, its use continuing up to the present time.
I believe we can assess the raw materials for combs under four main groups:
- The materials of pre-historic times, namely, bona wood and ivory.
- The materials of the Middle Ages, namely, bone, wood, ivory, tortoiseshell and horn.
- The materials of more modern times – that is from 1860 onwards – namely, celluloid, vulcanite, cellulose acetate sheets, casein sheets and horn.
- The newer synthetics available in powder form. In this instance I stress the powder form because quite apart from the introduction of the new materials themselves, their form was to give rise to a revolution in the manufacturing processes, namely, the injection process. Up to this time, approximately 1955, all combs were basically manufactured in the same way as they had been for 6,000 years, namely, they were out or carved from a solid, either natural material or synthetic. The introduction of vulcanite and celluloid and casein sheets in the second half of the 19th Century did not alter the methods of production, nor did it to any great extent take away from the craftsmanship required to manufacture combs of high quality. The appearance of the finished comb simulated the natural products of shell, ivory and mother-of-pearl.
We turn now to a consideration of the methods of manufacture. The requirements of primitive man were simple. A tool to cut, a tool to file, probably made from stone in the first instance and later on from iron or copper. The horn comb makers’ requirements were a little more elaborate – a vice, a small adze, a few knives and files, two or three saws of different thicknesses and a tool for cutting patterns. With the growth of industrial development their processes were improved and speeded up, but the basic principles remained. We shall give separate consideration to the modern method of injection so well known to you all.
I would like now to consider the development of the comb industry in a number of countries, as by so doing we can follow the pattern of development down to the present time, and in any case much of my information has come from records made available to me by friends in other countries; without this help much of this paper would not be possible. I propose, therefore, to consider the following: France, U.S.A., England, Scotland, Italy, Germany, Japan and China.
You will pardon me, no doubt, if for a variety of reasons I take Scotland first. I am indebted to the Aberdeen Comb Company for full information about the manufacture of horn combs, Which appear
in an issue of Chambers’s Journal in the year 1850. The opening paragraph reads: “Within our recollection, comb making was considered one of the most miserable of trades, and equally destitute
of anything like an organised modus operandi with that of the perambulating artisans who possessed a certain skill in fashioning of rams horns into spoons and rejoiced in the ancient and expressive designation of horners.” To some of us these sentiments might well refer to conditions relating to 1950 instead of 1850.
In 1820 a Mr. Lynn invented a new machine to make two combs out of one piece of horn or tortoiseshell instead of one. This was the earliest twinning machine, and was operated by steam power. It
foreshadowed mass production. This process was used later for the production of celluloid combs, and was discontinued only after the last war. In 1850 ivory was reserved especially for small tooth
combs, but tortoiseshell was used along with horn for all other combs. At that time the price of tortoiseshell was 35/- per lb. Ox horns were, however, the next important raw material, and were imported with hides from South America, Cape of Good Hope and New South Wales. In 1850, one million and a quarter were used at an average price of £50 per ton. The horn is out transversely and if large longitudinally, the tips being sent to Sheffield for knife handles and umbrella tips. The hooves were then softened and pressed into sheets in large presses, a process which gave rise to the statement in the book of the Horners that “This is indeed a stinking business.“ It is possible while the horn is soft to emboss it with attractive designs, and it is also stained to produce attractive configurations. The whole process was based on the production of plates of horn by pressing the softened horns, scaling and planing them to remove fibrous tissue and other excrescences, a laborious and dirty business with much smell.
At Aberdeen, however, the highest quality combs were still cut with saws, which were mechanised and could cut delicately fine tooth combs. Figures are given to show the large selection of patterns available. For example, of dressing combs there were 605 patterns; side combs 525, and overall 1,928 different varieties of combs were offered. The production at that time, i.e., 1850, was 1,200 gross a week, or 9 million a year. At a much later date Aberdeen Comb Company produced casein combs, and at the present time are large manufacturers of injection combs as well as continuing the production of their original product, namely, the horn comb. Examples of their production are here for your inspection.
I would now like to consider France. Of all the Western countries, France has done more to preserve the quality and design of combs than any other, and to maintain the element of craftsmanship which transforms a comb from an unattractive and unimaginative utility article into an object of beauty and service. Mass-produced combs by injection moulding are made in France in large quantities, and their prices are very low, but side by side with this trade there remains the high quality attractive cut comb, selling at prices five, six or ten times more than the cheaper article. A study of the counters of the Grands Magazins in Paris reveals a continuing French test and demand for such articles, which are no longer appreciated or demanded by the people of this country to the extent that they used to be. The French rigidly control the standard of their product through Qualité France, the equivalent body to our Good Housekeeping, and there is a special committee dealing with combs and hair articles made by hand, where strict specifications as to types of material, thicknesses etc., are laid down. Records exist of 17th Century regulations on comb manufacture which show the high values placed on combs. In the 13th Century the comb makers formed a Guild with the lantern makers who also used horn, a development similar to that which took place in London through the Horners Company.
The best comb makers in the 15th Century were at Limoges and they were forbidden to make combs in anything other than ivory, boxwood or horn, and not in any soft wood or cheaper material. The
costermongers of Paris in the year 1545 had as one of their street cries:
“Pignes de bouis, la mort aux poux,
C’est la sante de la teste.”
which being translated means:
“Boxwood combs, the death of all bugs,
The health of the hair.“
A Special office was that of Comber of the King’s Wigs, the holder being entitled to a fee of 200 crowns a year, which is mentioned in the budgets of 1687 and 1712. There are numerous statutes of 1578 and 1600 controlling the condition of the horners and the materials of their trade, including regulations for Apprenticeship. Their patron saint was St. Hildebert, Bishop of Meaux, whose feast was celebrated in the Church of Ste. Croix in Paris.
Gradually, however, the comb industry became more and more a speciality of the town of Oyonnax in the Jura mountains, a development which has made it the City of Combs and the leading centre for hair ornaments in the world. This little community, situated in a valley surrounded by mountains, had no special advantages to help it other than the enterprise of its inhabitants and the plentiful supply of boxwood which grew in profusion on the slopes of the Jura, and from the earliest times the people of Oyonnax were skilled makers of articles from boxwood. In the 7th Century a fortunate happening set them on the way to their future success in comb making. Clovis II, son of Dagobert the First, King of the Francs, while visiting the King of Burgundy at Geneva, met in his palace a slave of royal blood, remarkable for her beauty and intelligence. Clovis determined to marry her, and sent a delegation to Geneva led by Leodogarius, the future Ste. Leger, to ask for her hand. Owing to bad roads the carriage was damaged and the escort wounded, but the Oyonnaxians, skilled in the art of wood making, repaired the carriage, and as a token of gratitude Leodogarius later Bishop of Autun, granted to the people of Oyonnax the right to make combs of wood. Thus was born the comb industry in Oyonnax, who selected Ste. Leger their patron saint.
For hundreds of years this industry developed, using wood, ivory and tortoiseshell, the craft and skill being jealously guarded and handed down from generation to generation. The type of manufacture encouraged the development of a domestic industry, where whole families were engaged in design and manufacture in their own homes, a state of affairs which still exists today, side by side with the establishment of modern factories for mass-produced articles. The people of Oyonnax were early in fostering a co-operative spirit, and much attention was given to training, apprenticeship, method study and the use of joint market investigation and selling. By the middle of the 19th Century their products were known all over the world for ingenuity of design and quality of workmanship.
After the year 1886 celluloid was introduced to the industry of Oyonnax, and the modern comb industry was born, destined to become one of the most important and familiar uses of plastic materials. The craftsmen welcomed the new material with open arms, and applied all their native ingenuity and skill to produce new designs of combs and toilet articles, introducing special combs for evening wear decorated with gold, silver and precious stones.
Celluloid was joined by cellulose acetate sheet, and a great deal of the success of Rhodoid’s special configurations is due to the needs of the comb industry of Oyonnax. Injection moulding succeeded the sheet processes, and today 12,000 inhabitants of Oyonnax are said to have nearly 1,000 injection machines in their community, many of them it is true of small capacity related to the still existing domestic structure of their industry. But they also have the largest injection machine in France and possibly in Europe, namely, a 500 oz. Fimsai.
Detailed information about comb manufacture in the New World is available thanks to the energy and foresight of Bernard W. Doyle, late President of the Viscoloid Company of Leominster, Massachusetts, U.S.A. In a book entitled “Comb Making in America”, compiled and printed in 1925 privately, in connection with the 150th Anniversary of the founding of the comb industry in Leominster, Massachusetts, a full and detailed account is given of developments up to 1925 prior to the injection era. This excellent book (and I have made good use of it) traces the early history of combs and then deals in detail with the American developments. In Colonial days combs were very valuable, and were obtained from England, and there is a note in the inventory of the estate of one Robert Johnson of Rowley on the 16th December, 1649 of one comb value 16/8d. As early as 1650 crude combs were made of horn in Boston, but the real founder of the American comb industry was Enoch Noyes, who lived in the New England town of West Newbury, and who cut crude combs from horn with a knife in the year 1759. Near his home in Newbury stands an old weather-beaten post with the inscription:
“The first comb made in America, report says, was made on this hill near this spot.”
From this small beginning sprang up in West Newbury a large number of small comb making enterprises who developed along traditional lines, and by improving processes and mass-production laid the foundations of the industry of today.
In 1868 a patent was granted to W. Kerr and J.A. Robbins of Boston for the manufacture of fountain combs, similar to what had already been manufactured in England. They had fitted to the back a tube containing hair oil or other liquid. The patent states:
“To supply the oil to the hair, a valve in the tube is opened by pressing a button, and the oil is guided by a flat longitudinal channel in the comb and perforations between the teeth of the comb to the hair.”
I am sure many of us have been approached by hopeful designers with wonderful patent claims for just such an idea, which goes to show there is really very little that is entirely new in an industry with the background and tradition of the comb industry. Indeed I have some modern examples of this idea for
your inspection.
In 1860 hard rubber combs were manufactured, a development which grew with great rapidity.
In 1850 Leominster first appears as interested in combs, for there new comb making machinery was manufactured. About 1775, Obadiah Hills commenced to manufacture combs in the kitchen of his
house in Leominster. It is stated that comb making in the early days was slow and arduous with small profits and low wages. The apprentice system was the only way to enter comb making. An apprentice did two terms of schooling of three months each, and then spent another three months learning the job of comb making. He was not allowed out after nine o’clock, had to attend Church twice on Sunday, and spent Saturday evening preparing for Sunday School. In the long winter evenings he could grind the back and teeth of a high top comb, and was lucky if he made 9d. between the hours of six p.m. and nine p.m. Food was of the plainest, apple pie, salt fish, bacon and sometimes clams and other fish. Salmon was limited by statute to a minimum number of days per week, because the Merrimac River was full of salmon which cost next to nothing, with the result that the apprentices rebelled against such monotony of food. How values have changed!
Mention is made of Charles Joslin, born in Leominster in 1823, who became a prominent comb maker and was apprenticed to learn the comb trade with Joseph and Thomas G. Merriam of Leominster, whilst in 1819 the manufacture of ivory combs was commenced in Connecticut by the firm of Merriam and Collins, who used only the best materials available and made only the highest quality combs. It is known that following the departure of the Mayflower in 1620, a subsequent party of colonists in 1638 contained at least one family of Merriams. Although no direct evidence links these with the founders of the British Xylonite Company, it is an interesting possibility, and if established would represent a link with the modern plastics industry in this country.
The town of Leominster, like Oyonnax in France, once established as a comb making centre, developed and grew into an important producer of hair articles and ornaments, using celluloid at a later date in large quantities and step by step establishing the large and modern manufacturing industries of today which are leaders in the use of modern plastics materials by modern methods. Vast new industries have been established catering for a multitude of human requirements, but it is well to remember that as in Oyonnax, the simple comb played a strategic part in the development of things. Here again, the old and the new were blended together for the benefit of all.
It was from England that the American industry developed, and pioneers in the Colonial days took with them from this country the knowledge and skill of their craft. It is beyond doubt that combs were made in these Islands from the earliest times, first from bone then iron, and the growth was parallel to that in France and other countries, but I regret to say that I at any rate have not been able to find a great deal of detailed information as to the growth in this country. Maybe such information exists, but today at any rate there is no centre for combs tracing its history back to the earliest times. The Horners Company provides us with a link with the comb industry as it is certain that combs were one of the first and most important articles made in this country from horn. Even so, the short history of the Worshipful Company of Horners says very little about the comb industry as such. The first known reference to the Horners Company itself is in 1284. Unfortunately the earliest records of the Company have been lost, but I believe it is reasonable to assume that the craft of comb making from horn was an important one.
At Glastonbury in Somerset, where the remains of a prehistoric village were discovered some years ago, wooden loom combs have been discovered, whilst Chaucer commenting on the many absurd articles of female attire refers to the tying up of the hair with ivory pins in “licorous” fashion. In 1764 a comb dating back to the reign of Edward III was unearthed in Aberdeen, a relic presumably of the sacking of that city by that monarch in 1336. Mary Tudor, Queen of England, was presented with a magnificent case of combs on New Years Day, 1556. The combing of perukes was a custom of the 17th and 18th Centuries, when the wig was at the height of its popularity. Daddies of the time carried in their pockets along with their snuff boxes large combs of tortoiseshell or ivory. Combing the peruke was considered an act of gallantry, while out in the Mall, in the coffee-house and at the play-house, and allusions to this custom abound in the plays of the period from the reign of Charles II to that of Queen Anne. Another practice of The 18th Century fop was the combing of the eyebrows, and for this purpose a miniature comb made in boxwood was carried.
Japan and China
As I have been fortunate in obtaining samples of Japanese and Chinese combs, a few words would not be out of place. In Japan hair styles were elaborate for many centuries, and a wide range of combs and hair ornaments were made. In the old days courtesans carried from six to a dozen combs and ornaments made from tortoiseshell in their hair, many of them inlaid with gold and silver. In China much the same pattern was followed.
The introduction of vulcanite and celluloid gave a great impetus to the mass-production of combs. Vulcanite combs were popular and efficient in use. They were made and are still made of vulcanised
rubber, the impression of a large number of combs with uncut teeth being pressed on a large sheet of material. The blanks were then broken off, pressed and finally the teeth were cut with saws, which were a development from the earliest saws mentioned by a Mr. Bundy of Camden Town in 1804. These saws were mechanised, and could cut from thirty to forty teeth to the inch, and turned out a comb every three minutes. Celluloid in sheet form provided a wide range of colours and configurations, which widened the range of articles available to the public. They were also cheap and sold in quantity for prices as low as 2d. or 5d. each. The British Xylonite Company was the largest producer of celluloid combs in this country, having introduced them to the market as early as 1877. Despite the disadvantage of inflammability, celluloid combs gave excellent service, they were tough, colourful and long-lasting and sold in enormous quantities until as recently as 1948/1949.
There is little doubt that the manufacture of combs from sheet material, be it vulcanite, celluloid, casein or cellulose acetate, is on the decline and marks the end of an era, the second era in comb manufacture – the first being the hand process combined with materials such as shell, wood and horn, whilst the second saw the introduction of mass-production methods applied to rubber, celluloid, cellulose acetate and casein.
The third age is with us, namely, the injection age. No-one seems to be able to pin-point with strict accuracy the date when the first injection moulded comb was made or the place of its manufacture.
Eckert & Ziegler tell me that they made the first comb mould in 1927 and they were used on their EL III Type injection moulding machine, the material being cellulose acetate. Due to the poor mould clamping force of those first injection machines the moulds were conical, and photographs of the machine and the moulds will be shown to you. In 1930 the first Eckert & Ziegler machine was sent to Canada to French Ivory Products Ltd., of Toronto, and in 1934/35 the real bulk production of combs in Germany was commenced from polystyrene. By 1936-1937 the Rheinische Gummi und Celluloid Fabrik at Mannheim had about twenty Isoma machines, made by Frans Braun of Zerbst, making polystyrene combs. In England about the years 1931-1933 the British Xylonite Company conducted experiments in the injection moulding of celluloid combs in a special machine. As a result injected celluloid combs were produced, but the process was not commercial and as can be imagined was full of surprises and dangers for the operators. Incidentally, this process followed closely one patented by the firm of Petitcollin in France for the production of injected celluloid combs some years previously.
The first injection combs were made in England probably in 1933. Mr. A.A. Clark of the Barnet Comb Company, who has helped me with samples and information for this paper, claims that his firm were the first to use an Isoma machine to make a 5″ pocket comb in cellulose acetate. Mr. E. A. Norris of R.H. Windsor Ltd., states that in 1937 comb moulds for the EL9 Eckert & Ziegler machines were made on the split conical mould principle and were squirted in pairs end on. They then decided to mould small combs on flat moulds, but injected in the middle of the back, but found this caused weaknesses in the back. They then injected at the end, which method proved to be the right one. R.H. Windsor say they were the first people to design and construct a tooth cutting machine for dies, the main object being to produce ball pointed teeth on the comb and do away with further finishing methods. The first fine tooth combs were injection moulded around 1946. Cellulose acetate was the principal material for combs in this country, the opposite to Germany where owing to the necessity to cut down imports of materials such as cotton linters, the main effort was in polystyrene, and this state of affairs continued through the war and for some time after.
During the war it was found that combs were an essential item in the war effort, especially for the workers in the factory, and were important from a health point of view. As a result of this, the Ministry of Supply gave permission for the importation of injection machines from the United States as well as the necessary raw materials. Many new firms entered the industry on a wartime basis, with the result that at the end of hostilities a large surplus of manufacturing capacities asserted itself. Prices fell steadily and the quality of combs suffered accordingly with large quantities of scrap, both acetate and polystyrene, used to cheapen and degrade the article. This has happened in other countries as well, and at one time combs were not sold by the dozen but by the pound weight of kilo at a fraction over raw material cost.
Combs have been made in large quantities from most of the thermoplastic materials, be they in sheet form or powder. Let me list them. Combs have been made and are still being made in celluloid, cellulose acetate, cellulose acetate butyrate, ethyl cellulose, polystyrene, methyl methacrylate, casein, nylon, low pressure polythene; almost the lot in fact. The tonnages used are considerable. No reliable figures of world comb output are readily available, but taking the population of the world as approximately 2,200 million, and allowing 1 comb for every 10 persons, the quantity required would be approximately 220 million, representing a tonnage of approximately 2-3,000 tons. In this country alone approximately 180 million combs were produced per annum in 1946/47, about five times the 1938 production.
Let us for a moment leave the realms of history and fact and speculate on events. We have seen that the comb is an article with a pedigree, standing high in the service of mankind from the earliest of times and very much taken for granted as a result. To students of history it provides a mirror of the past, reflecting the skill and tastes of the times, and we can only have the greatest respect for those early ancestors who with little to help them in the way of plant or raw materials made for their use articles of such lasting beauty and design.
Until the injection era the comb maker was a craftsman, though becoming less so during the celluloid era. Today he is but a button pusher on an injection machine. There is grave danger that the products will reflect this position. It will be increasingly difficult to get new ideas unless someone can produce original hand-made patterns, as the making of copies of copies by engineers will lead to degeneration of the article. The injection process imposes its own limitations on the articles. They are restriction of configuration in material as well as ornamentation, coupled with the necessity to have large quantities of one pattern to cover the tool costs. The tool maker is the craftsman of today and he is limited by the metals he uses and the machines he has to cater for. The industry is aware of this danger and strenuous efforts are being made to improve quality and design. There are now many examples of attractive combs or good design giving excellent service at attractive prices; the use of nylon and the return to favour of cellulose acetate are helping in this development.
And so I must come to the end of our story. I have not endeavoured to describe modern practice in injection, which is familiar to you all. After all, this is supposed to be a history of combs, and I have endeavoured to paint the background and show that what we make is not simply a lump of plastic but an article worthy of our highest consideration and effort. In fact there is romance in the study of this product.
I would like to express my thanks to the British Plastics Federation for giving me the opportunity of presenting this paper. I have found the preparation of it most interesting and intriguing, and have been quite unable to compress into the short time at my disposal all the information and interesting things I have unearthed about combs. The whole of this paper has been concentrated on hair combs, and no attempt has been made to deal with combs for industry or other purposes.
My thanks are due to many friends in the industry in this country and abroad, and I would like to express my thanks to those who have helped me with samples and information, in particular:
My colleagues in the British xylonite Company on raw materials and finished goods.
Assistance and samples from:
The Aberdeen Combworks Company Limited
The North British Rubber Company
Thurgar Bollé (Succesors) Limited
Mr. A.A. Clark of The Barnet Comb Company Limited
“PLASTICS” and “BRITISH PLASTICS” magazines
Peter Delafield of British Resin Products Limited
Monsieur J. Massonnet of Etablissements G.O. Lacroix
Monsieur Paumier of Rhone-Poulenc
Monsieur Bailly of Etablissements Auguste Bonaz
Monsieur G. Michel of Compagnie du Celluloid Petitcollin-Oyonnithe
The journal “INDUSTRIE DES PLASTIQUES MODERNES”
Monsieur Georges Bollé of Etablissements Bollé
Dr. S. Mazzucchelli of S.I.C. and S.A.M. Mazzucchelli
Eckert & Ziegler
Mr. Kuhn of the Rheinische Gummi und Celluloid Fabrik
The American magazine “MODERN PLASTICS”
Halex agents in South Africa, Iraq, Thailand, Rhodesia, Hong Kong and Japan, and other countries who provided me with samples and information.
The staff of the Victoria & Albert Museum and the British Museum, who helped with photographs.
