Who started the perm?
Who started the perm? Karl Nessler Perms date back to the early 1900s when German Karl Nessler invented the first permanent wave machine, which he believed would change women's lives forever. The early machines looked fearsome, with long tentacle-like rollers and even today it remains a very time-consuming, smelly and uncomfortable process. When did perms become popular? Popularized in the '70s and '80s, perms (or, permanent waving, if you're proper) have seen many forms over the years. There have been perm rods in the hair of everyone from Cher to Jon Bon Jovi, and even your very own grandmother, probably....