Irons used for the Marcel Wave hairdresing technique, c 1890s.

The Marcel Wave, invented by M Marcel, was a method of waving the hair with the use of newly-developed heated irons. Waving hair had always been popular but proved difficult to achieve using crude instruments. Initially hairdresers were hostile to the use of the heated irons, but the Marcel wave soon became a vogue. By 1897, Marcel waving became so popular that its inventor retired after amasing a considerable fortune. Irons made by L Pelleray of Paris.