The History of The Comb Industry
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Combs have existed as status symbols in most advanced societies for millennia. Even Colonial America was not immune to the opportunity to show off. The earliest combs here would have been imported from Europe at a very high cost and therefore would have been reserved for those with wealth and standing. Women wore these works of art prominently on top of intricate hairstyles. They were typically made from rare materials such as tortoise shell, silver or ivory.
It was not until 1759 that a local man named Enoch Noyes began experimenting and succeeded in making rough, but worthy, imitations of the expensive foreign imports. He found that he could flatten animal horn (a widely available and cheap material) by heating it in oil, pressing it between stones, and cutting it into the shape of combs and buttons. All the labor was done by hand and he straightened the horns by steaming them over his kitchen fire, pressing them in a cleft leg, opening it with wedges and allowing it to spring together. his was a significant achievement, however his business stayed local and rudimentary. “Old Fact,” as the natives called him, was a self-taught mechanical genius. It is often said, “a man’s home is his castle,” but for this man, it was a breeding ground for inventiveness. He owned the largest library around, imported fruit trees, bred varieties of fish and, of course, started the first comb industry in America (1759). Tradition has it that a Hessian soldier sought Noyes out during the Revolutionary War. This man, William Cleland (probably an anglicized spelling of the name), had been a comb maker in his hometown in Germany and brought his tools of the trade with him to America. With these specialized instruments and Cleland’s knowledge, the two became well known for their innovative designs which were on par with European exports. They began using tortoise shells and antler, along with horn, and selling them near and far.
Horatio Noyes notes that Enoch’s eccentric nature matched his talents: “a great joker and capital storyteller, often running to the parish barefooted and bareheaded.” On hot summer days he was spotted sporting only his light britches running the fields “just to go a mooning.”
One thing is for sure: These fellows were a “marvel of Yankee ingenuity,” constantly combing new territory for inventions and never squandered time.
Instead of secreting the technique, it spread into becoming a cottage industry with as many as 30 comb shops across Newbury but mostly in the newly incorporated area of West Newbury.
Unfortunately for the residents, the process of boiling and clarifying the raw materials smelled horrific! Despite this, the demand was high, and inevitably as the Industrial Revolution progressed, shops gave way to larger-scale factories both in town and in Newburyport and Haverhill.
Noyes Comb Factory
Comb-Makers Davis F., William, and William H. Noyes. Courtesy of the Newburyport Public Library Archival Center
Courtesy of the Newburyport Public Library
The Noyes were very innovative but largely kept the operation small-scale. Creativity continued with his grandson David Noyes, who invented a machine for twining, or cutting the comb teeth in 1840. He was the most important man in comb-making in America. Because of his invention, he was able to compete effectively with ‘English Dressing Combs” that were imported and expensive. Charles H. Coffin, a local merchant, heavily invested in David and a facility was rented at 33 Water Street. By 1844 S. C. Noyes & Co. ruled the industry with the first steam-engine used in the town.
In 1879, the demand for their product was so expansive, the Noyes family moved their comb business to 28 Chestnut Street.
Continuing the ingenuity streak in the family, William H. Noyes, who showed most strongly the genius inherited from his father, belongs the credit for practically all the comb machinery invented from the late nineteenth century to the 1920’s. A man of vision and tenacity of purpose, William H. Noyes was one of those who made the comb industry one of the most important, and compelled manufacturers from all over the country to look to the little town of Newburyport in Massachusetts for the latest developments in comb-making machinery and methods.”
The large Noyes comb factory employed fifty hands with a weekly payroll of $350. The firm produced 400 dozen combs a day with an annual worth of goods from $50,000 to $60,000.
Demand was so great by the early twentieth century that other competitors sprung up such as Carr, Brown & Co located at Fair & Water Street.
The ruins of the factory.
Advertisement in the City Directory of 1877. Courtesy of the Newburyport Public Library Archival Center.
Another competitor was G. W. Richardson Comb Co. which was located at Dalton Street. (Factory burned down in 1919.)
With the advent of rubber in the mid-twentieth century, the demand for bone-sourced combs began to fade. By the mid-twentieth century, plastic reigned supreme, causing the total death of the industry.
Reference:
Comb-Making in America, Bernard W. Doyle, Perry Walton, 1925.
“Sesquicentennial of Comb Industry,” 1925.
The Comb Industry, Clipper City Heritage Trail,
http://clipperheritagetrail.com/tour_biscboxcomb.php
West Newbury Historical Society