When permanent waves were all the rage

If you were a hot chick in the 1930s, you probably wore your hair in a permanent wave. Fashion-forward women all over the city desired very short, curly hair, and salons popped up everywhere to cater to them. A random edition of the Daily News from the 1930s features several beauty parlor perm ads. (Note the old phone exchanges! Very cool.)

                        

Getting your hair permed back then was actually kind of dangerous, requiring exposure to high heat and chemicals that could burn your scalp or singe your locks. These ads promise a simpler process. And who can resist a guy named Murray vowing to “make you gorgeous?”