The Mason Pearson Hairbrush
| Designer | Mason Pearson |
| Dates | 1885 to present |
Description
The Mason Pearson is a classic paddle shaped hairbrush. Its hand polished cellulose plastic handle holds a rubber-cushion pad containing tufts of natural boar bristles. The design allows for gentle but effective brushing which cleans and massages the scalp, stimulating the production of sebum with which it coats the hairs to promote heathy shiny hair.
The large ladies model measures 229mm x 77mm, is available in dark ruby (pictured), white, pink and blue as well as the original wood. All brushes are still largely handmade. Large ladies (B1) retails at £67.25.
A Personal View
My grandmother gave me my first hairbrush, a pink Mason Pearson, when I was a child. She was following the long tradition of giving grooming sets as treasured gifts.
I bought my daughter one for nostalgic reasons but she clearly prefers its gentle action for untangling her hair to the painful yanking of a brush with rigid plastic bristles.
This well designed, well balanced, ergonomic brush has been widely copied but is still available in its original form, from the original company who hand make the product to last. For these reasons the Mason Pearson is the iconic hairbrush.
Context
Mason Pearson was a Yorkshire engineer/inventor who moved to London in the 1860s to work at the British Steam Brush Works in London’s East End. At that time long hair was prized among women, inspiring the seven Sutherland sisters who had floor length hair!
In 1885 Mason Pearson invented his "pneumatic" rubber-cushion hairbrush. His company decided to market exclusively Mason Pearson's rubber-cushion hairbrush manufactured using his prize winning automatic brush boring machine. The product design used nowadays is similar to the original 1885 model with improvements made in the 1920s.
Links
Pricelist: www.bearstreetpharmacy.co.uk/mason_pearson_brush.htm
| Author: | Helen Applegarth | Date: | March 2008 |