Do-Rag (1966)

[Wilson Gray]

Not very long after WWII, circa 1947, "A New Process for
Straightening Hair" (This "New Process" had no brand name) was
introduced into the barbershops in the black neighborhoods of St.
Louis. Since I've never worn my own hair straightened, I had no more
interest in the New Process than I had in the old process that is so
lovingly described in the "Autobiography of Malcolm X." So, I have no
idea as to whether the "New Process" originated in St. Louis or
spread there from somewhere else. In any case, the "New Process" was
heavily advertised on the four hours a day of black radio then
available in St. Louis and and in the local black newspapers, not to
mention in the shop windows of the barbershops themselves. After a
couple or three months or so, the conk and its handmaidens,
"Congolene Jelly" and "Du-Konk Pomade" were dead, not to mention the
"gas job," which was accomplished by running a heated straightening
comb through one's hair, resulting in a sort of poor man's conk.

The "New Process" took as much time as it took for a woman's trip to
the hairdresser and likewise involved the use of one of those
three-quarter-egg-shaped hairdryers. It also cost heavy dues, as much
as $5.00, whereas a regular haircut cost from 50 to 75 cents. In
other words, anybody who could afford the New Process couldn't
possibly be indigent. That being the case, I assume that the marine
quoted was a racist. These days, a process costs in the neighborhood
of a hundred dollars. One part of the New Process involved a long
time sitting around waiting for the processing chemicals to do their
work. Since the actual styling of the patron's hair was done
partially while the chemicals were still doing their work, the
patron's hair was put up in rollers and/or curlers and the hair-do
wrapped in a bandanna tied exactly as Rosie the Riveter's, except
that it was a more manly black or navy in color. This bandanna was,
of course, the "hair-do rag." Most readers here are probably already
aware of this, but BE is a dialect in which "rag" means not only rag,
but any kind of relatively small, useful piece of cloth such as a
face rag, a head rag = a facecloth, a bandanna.

In my youth, stocking caps were made of actual stockings and were
used to keep a man's hair in place while he slept. These were never
worn outside. It would have been like appearing in public in just
underwear. But men and youths did wear either handkerchiefs or
bandannas as head rags outside and they were considered quite stylish
for casual wear. These were tied around and over one's head
pirate-style or Aunt-Jemima style and antedated the (hair-)do rag by
a few years.

-Wilson Gray


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>Subject:      Do-Rag (1966)
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>
>William Safire had never heard of a "do rag" before? Earliest use is
>in the New York Times?
>
>I'll never get credit for this (as usual), but here goes.
>
>
>http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/06/magazine/06ONLANGUAGE.html
>I visited a high school in Virginia recently that had this sign on
>the door: ''Please remove bandannas, skullcaps and do-rags'' or any
>other clothing that violated the district's dress policy.
>
>''For the uninitiated,'' writes Carrie Mason-Draffen in Newsday,
>''do-rag is essentially a bandanna that African-American women or
>men like to don . . . eminently practical, eminently dress-down . .
>. but some young African-American men are masters at transforming
>the scarves, or some offshoots, into fashion statements.'' She notes
>that ''the symbol of World War II working women, Rosie the Riveter,
>was depicted in posters with her locks peeking out of a do-rag.''
>
>Earliest use was in an April 1968 Times article from Saigon by
>Thomas Johnson quoting a marine recalling indigent blacks in San
>Francisco ''with slicked-down hair and 'do-rags.''' What's the
>metaphoric root? What does a do-rag do, other than upset school
>officials from France to Virginia? My speculation: a rag is a piece
>of cloth, often discarded or used for cleaning and dusting;
>garment-industry people often mock their business as the rag trade.
>The do comes from hairdo, with the do meaning ''style.'' Thus: a
>scrap of material worn atop the hairdo is a do-rag. If proved
>mistaken, I will wear one to the office for a week, accompanied by a
>paronomastic singer-lyricist who calls himself Rapunzel.
>
>
>(JSTOR)
>Take Care of Business
>Marvin X
>The Drama Review: TDR > Vol. 12, No. 4, Black Theatre (Summer,
>1968), pp. 85-92
>Pg. 85:
>WES is dressed in the style of a "do rag" nationalist; JOE as a
>typical college student.
>
>
>(NEWSPAPERARCHIVE)
>17 August 1966, Newark (Ohio) Advocate, pg. 39, col. 2:
>Young called himself the "do-rag" man, referring to a bandana, or
>do-rag, worn around the head after applying a hair preparation.