Patent No. 4,022,227-The Combover
Posted by Genevee Bodine on Thursday, October 29, 2009
While out at my favorite pub last week, the topic of Gene
Keady possibly having the best combover ever came up in the discussion. As we
were racking our brains, trying to think of other people in history who could
possibly have a better combover, I suddenly felt inspired to do some research, and
then write about it on my blog.
I thought I would come up with a funny article about a well-known hairstyle where balding men grow their hair out, then completely comb their hair over from one side of the head to the other, in an attempt to mask their lack of hair growth in certain areas of the head. The concept is completely ridiculous, because you're really not disguising anything, but rather drawing more attention to it, despite your best intentions.
I imagined finding all kinds of famous people in history with combovers and giving people a laugh with the absurdity of their over-the-top styles. Instead, I discovered through my research, that there is more depth to this subject than originally anticipated.
First of all, I found out that there is actually a patent on the instructions for doing a comb over using three sections of hair and wrapping them around the head in a specific way. Frank and Donald Smith, a father and son duo from Florida, are the owners of U.S. Patent No. 4,022,227, issued in 1977, though Frank Smith is since deceased. In fact, in 2004 they won the Ig Nobel Prize, an award given by an organization called Improbable Research, which is defined as research that first makes you laugh, then makes you think. That has been an accurate description of my experience since I made jokes about combovers at the pub last week.
I also learned that there is a documentary out called Combover: The Movie. Check out the trailer here.In the documentary, Chris Marino is followed by cameras for 16 months, through various places in the United States, searching for the perfect combover. I have yet to see it, as my new-found fascination started less than a week ago, but I must admit it looks interesting and I'm looking forward to watching it.
Some famous combovers belong to Donald Trump (though his hairstyle is technically considered a "comb forward"), Gene Keady, ‘Baldy Man', and my personal favorite, Homer J. Simpson. Rudy Giuliani gave uphis combover in 2002. This hairstyle seems to be becoming a lost art, because many men are opting to go to hair clubs or are cutting their hair extremely short instead, which I must admit I prefer, despite my interest in the documentary.
In Hollywood, they refer to a combover as a "swept ant'ny," to give it a more respectable name. The Urban Dictionary defines "swept ant'ny" as "a hairstyle used by balding men; comb over."
No matter how you look at it, whether it be to laugh at the absurdity of it, embrace it as another part of our culture, or possibly both (which would be my recommendation), there's a lot more that goes into a combover than people realize. Who would think there would be a patent, an award, a documentary, along with a more respectable name?
And now, I shall leave you with an alternative -- the mullet or possibly a toupee?
I thought I would come up with a funny article about a well-known hairstyle where balding men grow their hair out, then completely comb their hair over from one side of the head to the other, in an attempt to mask their lack of hair growth in certain areas of the head. The concept is completely ridiculous, because you're really not disguising anything, but rather drawing more attention to it, despite your best intentions.
I imagined finding all kinds of famous people in history with combovers and giving people a laugh with the absurdity of their over-the-top styles. Instead, I discovered through my research, that there is more depth to this subject than originally anticipated.
First of all, I found out that there is actually a patent on the instructions for doing a comb over using three sections of hair and wrapping them around the head in a specific way. Frank and Donald Smith, a father and son duo from Florida, are the owners of U.S. Patent No. 4,022,227, issued in 1977, though Frank Smith is since deceased. In fact, in 2004 they won the Ig Nobel Prize, an award given by an organization called Improbable Research, which is defined as research that first makes you laugh, then makes you think. That has been an accurate description of my experience since I made jokes about combovers at the pub last week.
I also learned that there is a documentary out called Combover: The Movie. Check out the trailer here.In the documentary, Chris Marino is followed by cameras for 16 months, through various places in the United States, searching for the perfect combover. I have yet to see it, as my new-found fascination started less than a week ago, but I must admit it looks interesting and I'm looking forward to watching it.
Some famous combovers belong to Donald Trump (though his hairstyle is technically considered a "comb forward"), Gene Keady, ‘Baldy Man', and my personal favorite, Homer J. Simpson. Rudy Giuliani gave uphis combover in 2002. This hairstyle seems to be becoming a lost art, because many men are opting to go to hair clubs or are cutting their hair extremely short instead, which I must admit I prefer, despite my interest in the documentary.
In Hollywood, they refer to a combover as a "swept ant'ny," to give it a more respectable name. The Urban Dictionary defines "swept ant'ny" as "a hairstyle used by balding men; comb over."
No matter how you look at it, whether it be to laugh at the absurdity of it, embrace it as another part of our culture, or possibly both (which would be my recommendation), there's a lot more that goes into a combover than people realize. Who would think there would be a patent, an award, a documentary, along with a more respectable name?
And now, I shall leave you with an alternative -- the mullet or possibly a toupee?