We didn’t have fancy ceramic wands or heated rollers. We had pink rubber bands. If you grew up in the 60s or 70s, you know what I’m going to talk about. You know the real pain.
Just imagine this scenario. It was a Saturday night, you washed your hair and stared in the mirror. Unexpectedly, you don’t see a girl.
You see an Alien with a pink mushroom farm growing out of her scalp. How sad.
We twisted, wrapped, and snapped rubber tops down tight just for the promise of perfect Sunday morning curls. Yes, that was the struggle. Not like today!
But most importantly, we had to survive the night. It was super hard to sleep with those pink rubber knobs.
Finding a comfortable position on a pillow was quite a skill that basically took years to master.
The Pink Mushroom Farm on Your Head
They were unique. It was basically little pink rubber cups with a button top that folded down over the hair.
After you installed them on your full head, you didn’t look beautiful. You were literally a rubber garden.
They had a specific texture. They were soft and easy to bend. Plus, firm enough to bounce. Also, they got a unique smell of “new tire” mixed with floral shampoo. Woow right?
They came in different sizes. Pink ones were the main choice. You can remember, you stand there for an hour sectioning off wet hair.
You knew the next 12 hours you were going to look a mess. Funny right?
No need to worry. No one had permission to visit you during those hours. It was literally a bathroom door locked situation.
The Mechanics of the “Pop”
Using a Spoolie was not just hair styling. It was basically an engineering.
Here’s the procedure: Take a wet strand of hari, wind it perfectly tight around the center stem, and then flip the rubber top down. Snap.
Did you know that little snapping sound was super satisfying? It meant the curl was locked in for the night. Also, it meant your scalp was currently pulled tighter.
Actually, if you wound them correctly, you could barely blink. Honestly, we didn’t need anti-aging cream. Simply, we just wound our spoolies to get the face lift we wanted.
We had to struggle if we had layers. You’d get the top snapped down, just to see 3 little wispy hairs poking out.
You’d pop it back up, rewind and then basically snap it again until you feel alright. That’s it.
The Dippity-do Factor
We didn’t use water. because we thought that was for amateurs.
If you wanted those curls you hardly gained to survive a windy morning, you just needed the heavy artillery. Dippity-do.
As I remember, every bathroom corner had a jar of neon green goop. Sometimes they came in pink. It had the consistency of Jell-O that had been left out in the sun. Plus, the smell was pure chemical sweetness.
We scooped out a glob with 2 fingers. It was literally cold and slimy. The goal was basically not soft, touchable hair. It was the structure.
Once the gel dried overnight, it hardened into a thing as strong as cement. You knew your method was working because it made your hair crunchy.
As you can see, we weren’t just setting our hair, we were literally casting it in plaster. Amazing right?
The Princess and the Lumpy Pillow
Yes, getting curls was easy. But sleeping with it without messing up was super difficult.
You lay your head on the pillow, and sadly, 30 hard rubber knobs dug into your skull. Imagine the pain.
Actually, there was no better position. If you lie on your back, it literally feels like slipping on a bag of rocks.
If you turned to the side, the Spoolies pressed into your ear until it went numb. So hard…..
Therefore, we used the Hand Bridge method to sleep. You basically slept with your hand wedged under your cheek. to create a tiny gap between the curled and the pillow. It was better than the alternative.
However, it looked like a punishment.
The hard part was that you had to wake up every hour just to adjust. Spoolie imprint on your forehead and a stiff neck. But in the end, we knew that the sacrifices were well worth.
The Sunday Morning “Boing”
Sunday morning, we woke up tired but full of hope. That was the brighter side.
Then, you take them out by flipping the rubber top up, unwind the hair, and BOING.
Actually, the curl would spring up tight against your head like a slinky. You didn’t get soft waves, you basically got a head full of tight, crispy springs that smelled like Dippity-do.
The funny part was that we spent the next 20 minutes brushing them out. We tried to tame the frizz into something that didn’t look like a mess.
Now it’s time for you. Did you suffer through the Spoolies era? Let us know in the comments section.