Remember when.....

[Lanea87]

Oh nawll that press stuff didnt work too long with my ppl, it would puff back up by the time they were done. Not too many burns for me LOL

 

[TexturedTresses]

love this thread. my mom accidentally burned out the whole middle of my hair. she was learning to press on me. i stepped on a pressing comb and burned under my foot while my aunt was pressing my hair in grenada. apparently was hair was too nappy for her. what saved my hair is i was alergic to the blue grease (as i called it) it gave me a head cold. come to think of it pink lotion does the same thing. so my mom was actually forced to use all natural stuff or nothing on my scalp. plus i hated having my hair blowdried or straightened. i just wanted to be left alone. man my hair was so thick long and strong. in fact it was so thick, i didn't even notice the middle was burned out until much later. lol.

 

[discobiscuits]

we didn't use any of those. we had a huge can of Madame Walker's. we STILL have it! LOL i think it was just a big ol tin can o' petroleum jelly.

 

[Br*nzeb*mbsh~ll]

I remember riding my bike to Mrs. White's. I couldn't wait for those Saturday morning trips. I felt so independent and I was anxious to see all my long black hair flowin in the wind. Mrs. White was a big, brawny lady. She had a lil beauty shop in the back yard of her house. I'd knock at her door and she'd come out and let me in to the shop. I suffered through all the pulls and yanks and burns and sweat...she was so ruff! I'd be red with anger and sweat, but man, when she was finished! You could see your reflection in my hair! Talk about *bling*. I'd hop on my red ten speed and glide all the way home....my guy neighbors would begin to call me out about how pretty i looked with all that Injun hair of mine, "Ooooh, look at Josie, she just got her hair pressed! She sooo pretteeee!"...i'd be so embarassed and proud and nervous...but i'd just keep my head straight and keep pumping my bike until i got home, not going too fast, because i didn't want to sweat my hair back before i got home....(i was in the 4th grade...)

Happy, simpler times.....

 

[Br*nzeb*mbsh~ll]

Holla at me, Houston! I feel ya...you made it through Eduord, too, heh? Oh, man, oh man you are taking me back with this...we had bootleg cable for a minute, though, til my mom realized how x-rated it was...i was blessed, i had the ac in my room, i was flossin'!

Ya'll so crazy. Crown royal was the grease of choice for me. Oh and I forgot about the braids. I would wear beads or foil paper at the ends to keep it from unravelling. I read the post about the young lady watching discovery channel and seeing news about hurricanes. That is why I use the name I'm on the Texas Gulf Coast and we just had TS Eduord come through.

I'm a 70's baby no cable, no discovery. Just zenith consoles on the floor that did not work. Had a black/and white TV on top with foil paper on the antennas watching soul train. NO AC, had a window unit that we did not use because it would make the light bill too high. I could go on just wanted to share about the good ole hair days.

 

[Jetblackhair]

My mom would faithfully wash and press my hair every two weeks with Ultra Sheen and sometimes she used Posner. The emergency grease was Royal Crown 'cause that's what my father would always buy and it seem like he never ran out. That stuff was thick!!

On occasion I would go to the beauty shop to get my hair done. I remember one time asking for Shirley Temple curls all over and the lady doing my hair said, "no girl, this ain't Easter." She promptly gave me two ponytails that she curled in the Shirley Temple manner with 2 or 3 curls to each ponytail. erplexed I wanted to wear my hair completely down.

I was mad because even though I was 9, I felt like my mom was paying her to give me the service that I wanted. Of course I didn't say anything because I was a well mannered child.

 

[DivaD04]

Ah wait a minute, wait a dogg on minute!!!! Did we forget the press'n combs that used to turn!!!! I remember the comb used to start turning on a child! Why Lawd, why?! It's Saturday night and I have to get up in the morning for chuch...not church, chuch and the comb and the handle decide they want to play ring-a-round-the roses!

KrimsonKween I'm an 80's baby and I remember my mom and granny both having a white rag specifically for the comb. it would turn light to dark brown by the 2nd press but reaked of fire and grease....
i have a secret, i loved that scent on the press rag, but shhh don't tell nobody!

 

[adw425]

Hair Rep, which was Royal Crown with a different name -- petroleum jelly -- later Ultra Sheen, either the blue or green. My mom rarely burned me and my hair stayed pressed for days no matter how much rippin and runnin I did in the heat, humidity or rain with my friends.

 

[LongHairDreams]

ooooo, i'll play.

I got my hair pressed 1x month. Never any burns. When my mom washed my hair, she would put it in 6 plaits and let it dry until the next day. I HATED going outside looking like that. She would oil my scalp, comb it out (ends to roots) and press it, with some kind of pressing oil (can't remember the name). It would last a whole month. My hair was in the usual 'black girl' multi ponytails...lol....which only had to be re-done once a week. Every so often, she would cornrow my hair.

I was tender headed so I hated the combing out process.

I didn't have a rag to put over my ears. I used my hand/fingers...never got burned!!

 

[temfash]

Funny enough I only had my hair pressed twice by my auntie and my mum hated it. All I remember is the sitting between my mums legs to get french braids / plaits that stuck up every other sunday evening LOL. My mums products of choice were morgans pomade and vaseline hair tonic.

 

[chelleyrock]

I remember my mom pressing my hair for school pictures. She was always too gentle with the hot comb (afreaid she would burn me) that my roots would never be straight. In most of my pictures, my roots would be puffy and hair would be straight. I couldn't wait to go to my grandma's house for her to do it right. I remember I would tense up when grandma had to get the "kitchen" (my nape).

 

[LongHairDreams]

Ya'll so crazy. Crown royal was the grease of choice for me. Oh and I forgot about the braids. I would wear beads or foil paper at the ends to keep it from unravelling. I read the post about the young lady watching discovery channel and seeing news about hurricanes. That is why I use the name I'm on the Texas Gulf Coast and we just had TS Eduord come through.

I'm a 70's baby no cable, no discovery. Just zenith consoles on the floor that did not work. Had a black/and white TV on top with foil paper on the antennas watching soul train. NO AC, had a window unit that we did not use because it would make the light bill too high. I could go on just wanted to share about the good ole hair days.

Holla at me, Houston! I feel ya...you made it through Eduord, too, heh? Oh, man, oh man you are taking me back with this...we had bootleg cable for a minute, though, til my mom realized how x-rated it was...i was blessed, i had the ac in my room, i was flossin'!

ME TOO!!......

 

[naturalmanenyc]

Yep, I recall the smell of burning hair in the kitchen on Saturdays when mom would use the hot comb. She heated it on the stove and ran it through my hair using some kind of grease.....not sure which one.

I got a relaxer around age 10 and started going to the salon every 2 weeks by age 13.

I wore plaits with beads all the time back then with foil on the ends. I remember an emergency room trip because a bead fell into my ear after I was fool enough to untwist the foil. If I bring it up, I bet my daddy will still get upset over that emergency room bill he paid because I was playing with my hair.

Flashback...I can remember sitting in the kitchen smelling that burnt hair smell as my mother was pressing my hair. She would wash my hair the night before and put it in several braids. She would unbraid one braid at a time and press it. She used blue magic and royal crown. She done this for years (every two weeks). I later went to a hairdresser who did not care if you were tender headed. I have to admit, she was very good. I can remember the shrinkage of those braids and the length of my hair after it was pressed. I also did not get a relaxer until 8th grade.

 

[lovepeacesoul]

the scariest part for me was holding my ear while getting my hair pressed. did anyone else remember this???... wow

 

[hurricane]

Holla at me, Houston! I feel ya...you made it through Eduord, too, heh? Oh, man, oh man you are taking me back with this...we had bootleg cable for a minute, though, til my mom realized how x-rated it was...i was blessed, i had the ac in my room, i was flossin'!



________________________________________________________________

You were spoiled with that AC in your room, we slept with the windows up. And yes, my armpits would itch and sweat.

 

[mymane]

Blue magic...what can I say. I greased my mom's hair with that when I was seven or so. She fell asleep while i was doing it so I kept greasin. My dad finally woke her up telling her what I did. And let's just say it took her FOREVER to wash that stuff out. Slick ain't have nothing on that head, lol.

About getting it pressed. Just a distant memory, Watchin the hot comb heat up while sittin beside the stove one night. My mom started getting me relaxers around five or so. She said my hair was too thick and i was too tenderheaded (still til this day)

 

[LongHairDreams]

the scariest part for me was holding my ear while getting my hair pressed. did anyone else remember this???... wow

Oh yeah , I mentioned it in my post. I wasn't scared because I never got burned. I was lucky that my mother knew/knows what she's doing.

When i was around 10, my mother made me take care of my hair. What she neglected to do was show me. She thought i was paying attention when she was doing my hair. So, my hair broke off . My sister had to talk my mother into relaxing my hair (which my sister did). I was 12-13. My mother didn't want me to, but it was easier for me.