Far from being a modern invention. In fact, these hairstyling tools have been around for centuries and were used by early Babylonian, Assyrian, Persian, Greek and Egyptian civilizations. Often used to signify wealth and beauty, Persian and Greek nobles used iron or bronze rods, that were heated over a fire, to produce impressive hairstyles, and for Egyptian nobles, stylish wigs. Even Babylonian and Assyrian men crimped and curled their beards with basic curling irons.

Curling Tong – Circa 1920s

Sir Hiram Maxim, a US-born citizen of England, who gained hundreds of patents for various military, household, health, and beauty industry inventions (i.e. the maxim machine gun, a light bulb, an asthma inhaler, and a mousetrap) is accredited with patenting one of the earliest  curling iron designs in 1866. By 1921, many more patents were materializing.

Frenchman Marcel Grateau is acknowledged as the official inventor of the curling tong. In 1872, Grateau revolutionized hair styling when he invented the “Marcel Wave” as alternative hairstyle to the long curls that were in trend at the time.