The flappers of the 1920s cut their hair short (the ' bob') as a form of rebellion against tradition.

Up until the 1920s long hair was standard for women. However, in spite of its drawbacks, forms of Marcel waving have persisted until today, when speedy results and low cost are important. Because of the high temperature used, the process tended to degrade the hair. Thus, Marcel waving produced a two-dimensional wave, by thermal means only and the change was produced by plastic flow of the hair, rather than by any chemical means. Skill using the wrist could produce slight variations of the wave. Each time the tongs were applied, they were moved slightly in a direction normal to the lock of hair, thus producing a continuous flat or two-dimensional wave. The procedure was to comb a lock of hair towards the operator, moving the comb slowly with one hand to maintain some tension, while applying the tongs to the hair successively down the lock of hair towards the point. The waving itself was safe if care was taken to keep the tongs away from the scalp. The tongs were generally heated over a gas or alcohol flame and the correct temperature was achieved by testing the tongs on a newspaper if the paper browned slightly it was about right. He devised a pair of specially manufactured tongs, in which one of the arms had a circular cross-section and the other a concave one, so that one fitted inside the other when the tongs were closed. The first person to produce a practical thermal method was Marcel Grateau in 1872.

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