It messed up your furniture.
It was quite costly to maintain.
It was another hairstyle that assimilated black hair through straightening it.
Sometimes the curl pattern would not take.
Michael Jackson’s set on fire.
Although they might not want to admit to it now, many Black people (and a few white folk) loved wearing the Jheri Curl. Popular in the ’70s and ’80s, this hairstyle was invented popularized by Jheri Redding, whose salon products you can still find today.
“A Jheri curl was a two-part application that consisted of a softener (often called a “rearranging cream”) to loosen the hair and a solution to set the curls. The rearranging cream used pungent chemicals, causing the naturally tight curls to loosen and hang. The loose hair was then set on perm rods and a chemical solution was then added to the hair to permanently curl it.” – Wikipedia
Activator and the essential, slippery wetness it brought to the style is something of Black lore.It’s effects have been immortalized in the comedy of Robin Harris (“Follow the drip…”) and the African American favorite, “Coming to America”.
Why did we wear it? I’m going to say it’s a combination of popular trend and the assimilation mindset that makes some Black people feel that natural “nappy” hair is “bad” and must be chemically altered.
Update: Jerome (see below) submits that fact that the “Curl” was invented by a black man named Willie Morrow in the sixties as the California Curl. We should acknowledge that a black man started the style giving greater credence to the notion of black love for the product from all the stylists and black folk in the haircare industry who’ve made a lot of money off of the style. Similarly, Elvis Presley didn’t write “Hound Dog”, but it’s attributed to him and most people don’t know about Big Mama Thornton. Just another example of blacks having their genius stolen. Thanks Jerome!
7 responses so far ↓
1 Jerome Sistrunk // Feb 19, 2008 at 11:19 pm
The Jheri Curl was not invented by Jheri Redding , a white man. It was invented by a black man named Willie Morrow.He invented it in the sixties. This product helped to start a lot of black hair care business in the eighties. His product is call the California Curl. In the mid eighties there were several black hair care companies. Now many black hair care companies were bought out by white comglomerates. There are only a few black hair care companies left.Willie Morrow was the one that help make several blacks millionaires with his product.So don’t go hating on the Curl it started a lot of black businesses , Hair Stylist , distributors, etc.
2 The First Domino // Feb 19, 2008 at 11:21 pm
Today’s my birthday. I hated it in the day (the Jheri Curl) when it was all the rave. It gave the hair a greasy, glossy look and was not a fave with me. Men and women could sport a style that was indistinguishably bad for both. How Redding, for all the world, could persuade lass and lad to float this boat was his uncanny genius, not his Jheri Curl.
3 The First Domino // Feb 19, 2008 at 11:22 pm
I’ll repeat with maximum heat: I hated the “Curl” whether worn at home or in the street. The Afro was preferred over it, a more natural look, not one offbeat. If money becomes the judge of all things right, Then war may be judged in the very same light. It’s made billionaires of war profiteers: So let’s give them all a round of cheers.
4 Kim // Feb 22, 2008 at 9:43 am
It was 1983, I was in 7th grade and my momma made me get one. I didn’t ask for it. I guess getting a curl every three months was cheaper than getting a perm every six weeks. Anyway, I had a short curly afro and by the time I hit 8th grade it grew into a big curly afro. I was constantly clowned that year. Yet I still managed to get a boyfriend, but he had the Lionel Richie look so I guess we were a bad hair match made in heaven. But by the time I hit 9th grade, my hair had grown long enough that I was able to get the Ola Ray look. You remember her, the chick from the “Thriller” video. Well, I became hot after that. LOL! One thing I hated about having a curl was when it was humid outside. I’d walk to school, and my hair would be white because of the condensation of the jheri curl juice. [Sigh] Good times. I can’t wait to inflict the same type of hair trauma on my own daughter one day. LOL!
5 Ken // Feb 26, 2008 at 11:37 pm
In the 80’s, I had a curl and I looked good. Here’s a truth none of y’all are saying or remembering or willing to acknowledge: either you had the right kind of thick hair that took to the process or you had a busted ass curl. And believe me, I was in the former group. My hair was never dripping and greasy looking. I had a lot of bounce and people always asked “Who does your hair?” It wasn’t about hating nappy hair, it wasn’t about assimilating for everyone, and we weren’t crazy, and you should know from common sense, so many of us wouldn’t have done it if it looked so bad. Go get someone’s yearbook from 82 or 83 when the curl was at its height. You can see beautiful curls and then the “scary curls.” Eddie Murphy and Keenan Wayans made curls a joke and popularized their downfall — and I would point out neither one of them had enough hair or hair of the right texture to take well to the style. (Eddie’s hair was so resistant to any kind of processing, he looked like he had grease, naps, and water plastered together in Harlem Nights — not a good look and by Boomerang somene put a texturizer in his hair, and he looked very good).And anyone back in the 80’s knows what I’m talking about. When people asked who did my hair, it didn’t matter because certain textures of hair wouldn’t turn out well no matter who did it. Now thems the facts. And I’m sick and tired of everyone now dissing the curl because those who are doing it invariably were those who had the busted look. And also, some women who could never get their hair to grow were DELIGHTED with the curl because their hair didn’t break off and trust me some of those chicks were determined to keep a curl the rest of their lives! And I’m a guy who had those huge afros in the 70’s. The curl was the next look in the 80’s and by the end of the 80’s, I was sporting gumbies, the Big Daddy Kane cut, and of course high tops with a texturizer — the New Jack Swing look. And I promise you, I looked good in ALL of them.Thank you very much. The point? QUIT hating on the curl — it was a pain to get the process done and it took a few days to fill out, but we did it because the RESULT was FLY –. The one thing I will concede, the curl was a high maintanence look and THAT was the other reason it lost favor — couldn’t get it wet cause it would take a day to get it back right and God forbid you were sweating and exercising, then it would be a mess. And, yes, people did, even with nice curls, have to wear those plastic caps since even the nice curls could mess up linen (however, it was never as bad as Eddie Murphy made it seem in Coming to America). So that’s my 2 cents worth and then some.
6 Ken // Feb 27, 2008 at 12:05 am
One last thing, who the hell cares who invented it? So what? Who came up with the conk? Who came up with finger waves? Who straightened hair first? We’ve got this need to be given credit and that’s valid but can’t we distinguish between getting credit for something significan that matters (like scientific things and customs, etc..)rather than who came up with the curl. The bottom line is corporate America (i.e. white folks)co-opts most inventions (including hair products) that aren’t patented and make billions. Some of us just love being victims. Would it make you feel better if someone Black exploited Black people and got paid? Wouldn’t we still have been exploited? And if you like going for victimhood, aren’t White people victims too with all the hair gel, mousse and other crap they buy? I think in 2008, we need to be exhausted with seeing ourselves as powerless. There’s validity to noting how power exploits, but if it’s not coupled with resolution, a sense of humor, and a sense that we’re not singled out as Blacks — those corporations would pimp out their own white mommas for a profit…and have. We (meaning Blacks) ain’t that unique — the slick, evil, and greedy taking advantage of weaker, naive others is the history of Western Civilization. So, at the end of the day, there’s always some body getting paid off of the naivete, lack of will, or outright stupidity of the masses, including whites. Nuff said.
7 Nate Dogg // Feb 27, 2008 at 6:07 pm
Just an aside, “Hound Dog” was written for Big Mama by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. In those days most recording artists didn’t write their own songs. Elvis’ version was one of several remakes; remaking hits was another common practice of the day. Actually, both those practices are common to this day…
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