A working catalogue of technical claims, supporting documents and open questions.
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A dated primary document can be consulted, such as a patent specification. This confirms what the document states, not commercial success.
A photograph or catalogue may establish appearance or marketing. Its date, provenance and rights must still be checked.
A person, name or system appears in historical research, but a precise invention or date has not yet been established here.
These categories describe the current documentation in this project, not an absolute verdict on historical importance.
Technical idea: Early thermochemical process
Evidence and limits: Contemporary reporting of the London demonstration (8 October 1906) and subsequent patent documentation should be examined separately.
Source type to examine: Primary patent and 1906 trade coverage
Open question: Which claims are documented by the 1906 trade report, and which only by later recollections?
Primary source: United States patent specification and drawings
Technical idea: Lateral-opening heater for flat-wound hair
Evidence and limits: US 1,619,794: filed 19 March 1925; granted 1 March 1927. A patent for an apparatus associated with flat-wound hair, not proof that Mayer originated all flat winding.
Source type to examine: Patent text and drawings
Open question: Production, adoption and priority of the winding method remain unestablished.
Primary source: United States patent specification and drawings
Technical idea: Supporting dome, suspended heated irons and protective elements
Evidence and limits: US 1,693,515: granted 27 November 1928. The specification and drawings document an apparatus for arranging and supporting multiple heated irons.
Source type to examine: Patent text and drawings
Open question: The patent alone does not demonstrate sales volume, widespread adoption or priority over every other system.
Technical idea: Reported French competing system
Evidence and limits: A reported early French permanent-wave system; no precise patent or authenticated contemporary technical description is identified in this register.
Source type to examine: Original machine images, advertisements and patents
Open question: Find a dated catalogue, advertisement, machine photograph or patent and verify its maker.
Technical idea: Reported European system
Evidence and limits: A name associated with early professional permanent-wave history; no specific patent is independently established here.
Source type to examine: Contemporary technical specification
Open question: Determine the professional role and whether any particular apparatus was patented or manufactured.
Technical idea: Electrical heat-management approach
Evidence and limits: British GB 111372 (1917) and United States US 1,266,879 (1918) are research references for Suter’s patented work. Their full specifications and claims should be compared before describing the precise innovation.
Source type to examine: Full specification and claims
Open question: Determine the exact claimed construction and independently document its production and commercial history.
Technical idea: Electrical apparatus and manufacture
Evidence and limits: A photograph identified as an Icall machine is available on Wikimedia Commons with a family-provenance description. This is a lead for the appearance of an apparatus, not proof of a personal patent.
Source type to examine: Company catalogue and original patents
Open question: Verify the image date, machine model, maker, rights conditions and any inventor attribution.
Technical idea: End-to-root winding technique
Evidence and limits: A winding method generally described as rolling hair from its ends toward the scalp.
Source type to examine: Contemporary training manuals and patent record
Open question: Establish earliest dated usage and avoid attributing the entire method to a single inventor without evidence.
Technical idea: Branded commercial salon system
Evidence and limits: A commercial name associated with permanent-wave salon equipment.
Source type to examine: Period catalogues, advertisements and patent assignments
Open question: Separate trade name, company, patent holder and individual inventor.
Technical idea: Chemical treatment without large heated equipment
Evidence and limits: A chemical approach to permanent waving that does not depend on the large heated apparatus of earlier systems.
Source type to examine: Patents, trade manuals and chemistry literature
Open question: Verify the chronology and particular contributions of Arnold F. Willatt from contemporary sources.
Technical idea: Electronically controlled heated rods plus chemical treatment
Evidence and limits: Modern systems combine chemical treatment with electronically controlled heated rods.
Source type to examine: Manufacturer specifications and professional training documents
Open question: Document particular models and avoid claiming an unproven direct lineage from Nessler-era machines.
Links below open external source records. A reference being listed does not mean every historical claim has been verified against the full document.
Editorial rule: A patent grant is not evidence of manufacture. An advertisement is not evidence of performance. A surviving photograph is not by itself evidence of who invented the underlying mechanism.
