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Design Stories: Exploring Everyday Things

Kindness 20 catalogue advertisement

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Marketing Tactics
Competitors and other print ads used marketing tactics that not only helped sell the product but also reinforced societal and gender expectations. Advertisements marketed these products not just as hairstyling tools but also as essential for maintaining a woman’s appearance, aligning with ideas of femininity.
A womans self worth is associated with feminine mystique. According to feminist scholars, advertising often taught women how to “live out this [feminine] mystique by buying products that would enhance role performance in daily life” (Stern 1992, 14). The ads are being analyzed to see how ads for hair setting products perpetuate beauty standards and social expectations that tied a womans self worth to maintaining a perfect appearance.

Kindness 20
Competitors like the Kindness 20 used similar marketing terms and tactics. The Kindness 20 catalogue advertisement emphasized speed, ease of use, and safety. Using phrases like heating up in “less than 10 minutes” and requiring “no water or lotion.”Making it seem like an efficient solution for achieving salon-quality hair at home. This reinforced the societal idea that women should be able to manage their hair quickly and effortlessly (Eaton’s 1969, 317).

The Clairol 2-Minute Hair Setter
The Clairol 2-Minute Hair Setter also focused on speed and ease of use as its selling points. The packaging showed step-by-step instructions, which reinforced the idea that the product was easy to use. Also emphasizing safety by saying that the rollers were “not too hot to the touch.” The packaging shows a voluminous, curled hairstyle, which reinforces the beauty standards of the time (Esty n.d).

Rayette Cinderella Electric Hair-Setter
In addition to these competitors, the Rayette Cinderella Electric Hair-Setter ad shows various hairstyles, and text that suggests how quickly women could change their hairstyle between daily activities, emphasizing speed and ease of use. This ad also emphasises speed and convenience marketing showing how quickly you can change your hairstyle (Retro Adverto 2012).

Clairol Kindness Ad
Another interesting advertisement is the Clairol Kindness from the 1960s. It was a print ad from the United States, it uses a distinctive approach by featuring a woman with curlers, paired with the phrase “men can’t love a head full of curlers,” suggesting that the image of a woman with curlers in her hair is unattractive (eBay n.d). The ad reflects the societal pressures women face to maintain a certain appearance, particularly in terms of beauty and femininity.

Miss Carol Ad
The Miss Carol ad from Chatelaine engages with the beauty standards of the time but presents a slightly different angle. The image shows the ad, which emphasizes the youthful appearance of women, even those who are mothers. The slogan “Does She or Doesn’t She?” suggests that the woman’s well-maintained hair might not be as effortless as it appears, reinforcing the idea that beauty standards extend into motherhood (Chatelaine 1961).

Molyneux interprets the slogan as a tension between a woman’s maternal and sexualized roles in the 1960s. She argues that the ad depicts the woman not only as a maternal figure but also as a sexualized temptress. This reflects a broader social expectation that women must be nurturing mothers but also maintain their appearance. The ad shows a narrow view of femininity, but according to Molyneux it also empowers women, giving them the agency to take control of their beauty at home (Molyneux 2002, 126-132).

Feminist scholars mention “advertisements are... considered one of the most influential means of colonization in that they are wrought for mass audiences, are simple to understand, and are accessible to nearly everyone in the invaded culture (Stern 1992, 11). These advertisements focus on selling convenience, speed, and ease of use to people. While reinforcing societal gender roles, positioning women’s appearance as a reflection of their value and suggesting that maintaining beauty requires constant effort.

By examining advertisements for hair-setting products like the Kindness 20, Clairol 2-Minute Hair Setter, Rayette Cinderella Electric Hair-Setter, Clairol Kindness and Miss Carol, it is evident that these marketing tactics reinforced beauty standards tied to femininity. These products were marketed not just as tools for hairstyling, but as essential for maintaining a woman’s appearance. Reinforcing the idea that women’s worth was tied to their physical appearance, and maintaining beauty had to be quick, easy, and constant. These ads played a significant role in shaping and reinforcing the societal pressures women faced to live up to these beauty standards.
Competitor Analysis
Due to the lack of catalogue listings and advertisements on the Ten-Ten Hair Setter, we analyize catalogue listings, packaging, advertisements of competitors and similar products to gain a better understanding of the Ten-Ten's design and features. This analysis considers how consumer behaviour concepts, and perceptual biases, may have influenced the products design and how consumers perceived it.
Kindness 20
The Kindness 20 is a very similar product to the Ten-Ten Hair Setter and may have been a direct competitor, sharing key characteristics with the Ten-Ten. A catalogue listing from Eaton’s Spring Summer Catalog (1969) shows that it was sold with pins and a handle on the case, reinforcing the idea that these features were likely standard and would have also been included with the Ten-Ten (Eaton’s 1969, 317). This emphasis on portability and convenience reflects consumer preferences, valueing products that offered efficiency and ease of use.

Clairol 2-Minute Hair Setter
Another product that provides insight into the design of hair setters during this period is the Clairol 2-Minute Hair Setter. The packaging shows the British pound symbol, suggesting that this model is from the United Kingdom. The Clairol 2-Minute Hair Setter also features removable rollers and a base designed to heat them efficiently, highlighting similar key design elements that reflect the growing consumer demand for speed and ease of use (Esty n.d.). By promoting speed and ease, the Clairol 2-Minute Hair Setter appealed to consumers who saw problems when they perceive a gap between their current state – using regular curlers, and their desired state of achieving faster, salon-quality results at home (Engel, Blackwell, and Miniard 2014, 350).
90s Hairsetting Devices
In later years, there is an increased variety of hair setters, which may hint at a rising demand and growing popularity. A page from the 1993/94 Consumer Distributing Catalog shows a wide selection of hair-setting devices compared to earlier decades. Descriptions in the catalog show advancements in design, with products offering features like larger roller sizes, more styling options, and soft cushioned rollers, suggesting a shift toward comfort and customization. (Consumer Distributing 1993-94, 225). This increased variety suggest that manufacturers were responding to consumer feedback and the growing demand for comfort and customization. This increase in variety aligns with Engel, Blackwell, and Miniard’s point that consumers are likely to seek products that match their values, preferences, and previous experiences, reinforcing perceptual bias (Engel, Blackwell, and Miniard 2014, 36).

These products—the Kindness 20, Clairol 2-Minute Hair Setter, and later 1990s models show how consumer behavior influences product design and innovation. Consumers engage in extended decision-making, when they perceive a gap between their current state and their desired state (Engel, Blackwell, and Miniard 2014, 350). With hair setters, advertising features like speed, ease of use, and portability are the desired gap. As the products evolved, manufacturers responded to growing demands for comfort and customization, reflecting consumers’ increasing bias toward products that aligned with their personal preferences and lifestyle needs.
For the Ten-Ten Hair Setter, these insights suggest that its design and advertising likely focused on similar values—speed, convenience, and simplicity. The Ten-Ten’s features, such as its portability and efficient heating mechanism, would have been key selling points, and advertisements may have highlighted how the product could provide salon-like results at home in a fraction of the time. The marketing would have likely advertised it as a time-saving beauty solution, promising quick, hassle-free results.
Gender Roles
With the end of the second world war and the beginning of the baby boom, consumerism and rising use of cheap plastics and synthetic alternatives to metal becoming more and more frequently pushed out by companies, hair itself became the most affordable accessory of the century. Times may have been tight, but ideas abounded. Recycling was now a given, and after the war years, it was considered particularly shameful to waste any scarce items such as fabric, buttons, or thread. As both wardrobes and wallets gaped empty, attention was directed to Spectacular hairstyles which became the hottest accessories of the era. (Sundh, Emma, and Sarah Wing, 2015).

Women were the sole target for this product for a number of reasons. Societal standards and gender roles being two of the main reasons. Gender roles in the 1960s played a huge role in who bought certain products and why, which in turn affected how and to whom products were marketed. The Samson Dominion Ten Ten Hairsetter is a great example of a product that was heavily targeted toward women, specifically women who stayed at home. “In the 1950s and early 1960s, women were largely expected to be homemakers, dedicating their lives to raising children and supporting their husbands. Sociologists and psychologists of the time told women that they were naturally suited for these roles, and neglecting them would lead to unhappiness and neuroses.” (D’clare 2025, 1) This quote does a great job of summarizing a few very important stereotypes and expectations of women in the 1960’s. The idea that women would be unhappy if they were to neglect their household duties is extremely outdated, but relevant in the context of our artefact. The ads discussed under “Mediation” prove this to be true.
According to the book “Women’s Magazines, 1940-1960 : Gender Roles and the Popular Press” magazines during the 60s promoted and reflected the expectations of a woman in the 1960s (Walker 1998, 2). These expectations include traditional gender norms, beauty ideals, promotion of domesticity, and consumerism. More specifically, it was stated that women were not typically encouraged to have jobs, but rather stay at home with their families. Even though they were typically the homemakers, they were still expected to look effortlessly perfect and proper. This included things such as clothing, makeup, and most relevantly, hair. (1969) is a good example of marketing that emphasized use of the product, likely encouraging women to buy it. Phrases such as “Less than 10 minutes” “No water, no lotion” and “Rollers cannot overheart” were used to promote the product (Eaton’s 1969, 317). These short but effective phrases made the product out to be quick, easy, safe, comfortable, and effective; all of which are highly intriguing. Since the majority of women were not particularly encouraged to work outside of the home, the independence this product allowed was also a huge selling point. Being able to style one’s hair at home with the outcome of salon quality hair was great and would also help a woman keep up with the unrealistic societal standards of the time.
Spectacular hairstyles became the hottest accessories of the era. In order to create such hairdos, many women grew their hair a little longer, but not too long. Within some professions, hair was not even allowed to touch the collar. But moving into the 1950’s and later the 60’s… Women were no longer socially expected to be employed or save the world, but rather be stay at home “picture perfect” home-wives. This post-war new age of consumerism lended to a new ambition of looking magazine gorgeous — something clearly reflected in the fashion and growing star culture (Sundh, Emma, and Sarah Wing, 2015). "With their hair perfectly set and their nails freshly painted, they were far away from the dust and grease of the factory floors” this was the social expectation.
There was an abundance of luxury, ease, pastel colours, and rounder “feminine” shapes, all marketing the expectation for the 1950s woman to be a representative housewife, moving around the house in close proximity to a refrigerator and vacuum cleaner. A well-managed home with a wife by the stove was proof of a man's success, imagery and messaging seen throughout various magazines, catalogues, and advertisements (Sundh, Emma, and Sarah Wing, 2015).