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Comb
making in America developed in part at least from
three oddly related factors; the harsh new England
winter, the release of a mercenary Hessian
following the British defeat in the American
Revolution, and the loss of the British market for
imported combs.
During the long winter months
which prohibited working the land, farmers turned
to comb making as a means of supplementing their
incomes. There was a steady demand for combs of
both the decorative and utilitarian types and the
Revolution created a vacuum which had to be filled.
Enter the enterprising Yankee who ultimately
overtook the market by creating a superior product
at lower price, though the Europeans continued to
manufacture and export fine combs to the United
States for nearly a century.
It must be kept in mind that all
women, with out exception wore their hair long.
Such styles required numerous pins, combs and
ornaments, and a great deal of time and attention
was lavished on the maintenance and embellishment
of these tresses. Men of the upper classes wore
wigs and long hair was fashionable for most men, so
the comb was an essential toilet article for
everyone regardless of sex or social
station.
It is difficult for us for whom
the comb is such a commonplace thing to imagine a
time when the lowly comb was so highly prized that
it was specifically mentioned in estate settlements
and was considered so valuable that we read, "In
1653 Captain Edward Hull, a pirate, robbed a
trading station at Block Island owned by one
Captain Kempo Sebarda, and among other goods stole
one hundred of Combs, 2 lbs. 10 shillings." and in
1666, Nicholas Vanden, a servant who ran away from
his master, Robert Cross, of Ipswich, was accused
of "beaken open a cheast steelin' a come cost 12
pence money."
These early combs were
invariably made of three materials; horn, tortoise
shell, or ivory, and they were often works of art
intended to last several lifetimes,and they
did!
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As the domestic manufacture of ivory combs was
limited due to the exotic nature of the material
and the difficulties in working ivory, it is best
to examine the two remaining natural substances in
detail, returning later to consider
ivory.
Most authorities credit Enoch
Noyes of West Newbury, Massachusetts, as the
founder of the comb industry in the United States,
although Doyle in his book, Comb Making in
America (Perry Walton, Boston, 1926), mentions
a certain Captain Robert Cook of Needham,
Massachusetts, as a "horn breaker and comb maker" a
few years prior to 1759 when it is thought Noyes
cut his first horn comb in that town.
Little is known about Cook's
comb making, but he was a captain of the Colonial
militia and served his town and country in many
political capacities such as selectman for a number
of years, a treasurer for thirteen, and represent-
ative to the General Court for three terms. It is
not surprising that such an active public life left
him little time to engage in the less profitable
comb making occupation.
Noyes, however, devoted his full
energies to making combs which he sold to the
townspeople. He was joined in his efforts by a
former Hessian soldier named William Cleland who
had brought his comb making tools with him from
Germany, as it was the custom of the mercenaries to
carry the tools of their trade with them in the
hope of making " a little money on the side."
Cleland taught Noyes how to make more sophisticated
combs than those which he had cut with a pen knife
and hatchet. Both men ultimately used a variety of
hand tools with great skill in their basement
shop.
Of the various kinds of animal
horns available to Noyes and other comb makers, it
was found that steer horn was the most suitable.
Readily and cheaply obtained, least brittle and
thinner than other horn such as buffalo, oxen,
antelope, deer, etc., it was more easily shaped and
clarified. Originally, comb makers purchased cow
and steer horns from neighbouring farmers and later
obtained them from the slaughter
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