Women’s and Girls’ Hair A cultural history
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Object

Curling tongs and the Marcel iron

Heated metal pincers for curling and waving hair — a tool with a history of more than three thousand years, from Egyptian bronze to the salon Marcel iron.

Three pairs of curling tongs: small green-patinated bronze tongs, iron tongs that open like scissors, and a steel waving iron with wooden handles.

Heated tongs are among the oldest hair tools that survive. Their basic form — two metal arms closing on a section of hair — has changed less than almost any other styling tool.

Three thousand years of tongs

  • Egypt, 1575–1194 BCE: the Science Museum Group holds bronze curling tongs combined with a hair trimmer. The museum notes that hairdressing was an important part of social life in ancient Egypt, “particularly true among the wealthier classes”.[1] Verified
  • Britain, about 1900: iron curling tongs “opening, like scissors, to allow hair to be placed between the ‘blades’”, used by wig makers and given to the V&A’s Theatre and Performance collection by the wig makers Wig Creations Ltd.[2] Verified
  • Britain, 1920: “tongs for flat curls”, given to the Science Museum Group together with a gas-heated pedestal dryer of the same date.[3] Verified

The Marcel iron

The Marcel iron is a heated tong designed to make a deep, regular wave rather than a round curl. It takes its name from the French hairdresser Marcel Grateau. See Marcel waving.

Heat, skill and risk

Before thermostats, the user had to judge the heat. Research Hairdressers are often said to have tested their irons on paper before touching hair; we are checking this against dated manuals. Interpretation Either way, skill lay as much in managing temperature as in forming the wave.

Object story

What is it made of, and how does it work?
Two arms hinged like scissors or pincers, one often rounded and one grooved, heated and closed on a section of hair. Before electric versions, the tongs were heated separately and their temperature judged by the user.
Who made and sold it?
Ancient and early examples are unattributed. The makers of later salon irons still need to be identified from catalogues and marks.
Who used it — at home, in the salon, at work?
Wealthy households with servants or hairdressers in the ancient world; professional wig makers and hairdressers in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries; and women at home.
What signs of use should we look for?
Scorching and discoloration from repeated heating, and wear to the hinge.
Where can dated examples be seen?
Dated examples in the Science Museum Group (Egypt, 1575–1194 BCE; 1920) and the V&A (Britain, about 1900).

Used for

  • Technique · Temporary setting

    Marcel waving

    A deep, regular wave made with heated irons — a salon skill that shaped late-Victorian, Edwardian and 1920s hair, and a staple of Black beauty culture.

Sources

  1. Science Museum Group, “Bronze hair curling tongs and trimmer, Egypt, 1575–1194 BCE (A634869)”. Accessed 25 September 2026. What it shows: A bronze tool combining curling tongs and a trimmer, from Sir Henry Wellcome’s collection.
  2. Victoria and Albert Museum, “Curling tongs (S.496-1984)”, about 1900. Accessed 25 September 2026. What it shows: Iron tongs opening like scissors, made in Great Britain around 1900 and used by wig makers; given by Wig Creations Ltd to the museum’s Theatre and Performance collection.
  3. Science Museum Group, “Tongs for flat curls, 1920 (1976-29)”. Accessed 25 September 2026.

Further reading

  • Caroline Cox, Good Hair Days: A History of British Hairstyling, Quartet Books, 1999. details to check A general history of British hairdressing and styles.