when were hair ties invented

Hair ties, in their earliest forms, date back thousands of years, but the modern elastic versions emerged in the mid-20th century.

Ancient Origins

Hair-tying methods go way back, with people using ribbons, leather straps, and nets long before elastic existed. In the 1650s, colorful fabric ribbons tied hair for both women and men as fashion statements or status symbols. By the 1700s, snoods—netting bags—held hair at the neck, inspiring modern hairnets, while men's "queues" used leather or small bags during the 17th-18th centuries in Europe and China.

Rubber Revolution

Elastic rubber changed everything in the 1800s. Thomas Hancock patented its use in 1820, initially for clothing like gloves and stockings, paving the way for hair applications by the mid-19th century. Plain rubber bands existed but often damaged hair by pinching or pulling.

Modern Invention

The fabric-covered hair tie we know today was patented in 1958 by the Hook Brown Company, blending elastic with fabric to prevent pain and breakage. This upgrade made them practical for everyday use, evolving further with the 1986 scrunchie by Rommy Revson.

Era| Key Development| Example Use
---|---|---
Pre-1800s| Ribbons, leather, snoods, queues| Fashion, military, daily tasks 3
1800s| Rubber elastic invented| Clothing fasteners 37
1958| Fabric-covered elastic tie| Gentle hair ponytails 45
1986| Scrunchie variation| Popular 80s-90s style 1

Cultural Chatter

Forums like Reddit reminisce about pre-elastic days with bobby pins, "hair savers," or Goody brands—no modern ties back then! No big trends on this history now, but it's a fun nod to how far ponytail tech has come since ancient buns.

TL;DR: Thousands of years of ribbons and straps, but true hair ties hit in 1958.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.