comb

File:Local artisan cutting and filing animal horn to make combs.webm, Kerala]]

Combs are made of a shaft and teeth that are placed at a perpendicular angle to the shaft. Combs can be made out of a number of materials, most commonly plastic, metal, or wood. In antiquity, horn and whalebone was sometimes used. Combs made from ivory{{Cite book|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=4DaHyIC3DeEC|title = Archaeology and Environment in the Scoresby Sund Fjord|last1 = Sandell|first1 = Hanne Tuborg|last2 = Sandell|first2 = Birger|year = 1991|publisher = Museum Tusculanum Press|isbn = 9788763512084|language = en}} and tortoiseshell{{Cite book|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=-rHmq8CXIMwC&q=comb%2520tortoise&pg=PA104|title = American Artifacts of Personal Adornment, 1680–1820: A Guide to Identification and Interpretation|last = White|first = Carolyn L.|year = 2005|publisher = Rowman Altamira|isbn = 9780759105898|language = en}} were once common but concerns for the animals that produce them have reduced their usage. Wooden combs are largely made of boxwood, cherry wood, or other fine-grained wood. Good quality wooden combs are usually handmade and polished.{{Cite book|url = https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofha0000sher|url-access = registration|title = Encyclopedia of Hair: A Cultural History|last = Sherrow|first = Victoria|year = 2006|publisher = Greenwood Publishing Group|isbn = 9780313331459|language = en|access-date = 2016-03-07}}

Combs come in various shapes and sizes depending on what they are used for. A hairdressing comb may have a thin, tapered handle for parting hair and close teeth. Common hair combs usually have wider teeth halfway and finer teeth for the rest of the comb.{{Cite book|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=AcDmHwcv4jMC|title = The Archaeology of Celtic Britain and Ireland: C. AD 400–1200|last = Laing|first = Lloyd Robert|year = 2006|publisher = Cambridge University Press|isbn = 9780521838627|language = en}} Hot combs were used solely for straightening hair during the colonial era in North America.{{Cite book|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=IFKNL65TwcEC|title = Interpreting Archaeology: Finding Meaning in the Past|last = Hodder|first = Ian|year = 1997|publisher = Psychology Press|isbn = 9780415157445|language = en}}

A hairbrush comes in both manual and electric models.{{Cite book|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=YygDAAAAMBAJ|title = Popular Science|year = 1937|publisher = Bonnier Corporation|page = 39|language = en}} It is larger than a comb, and is also commonly used for shaping, styling, and cleaning hair.{{Cite book|url = https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_ve9NAAAAYAAJ|title = The Toilet and Cosmetic Arts in Ancient and Modern Times|last = Cooley|first = Arnold James|year = 1866|publisher = R. Hardwicke|language = en|access-date = 2016-03-07}} A combination comb and hairbrush was patented in the 19th century.{{Cite book|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=yElGAQAAMAAJ|title = The Canadian Patent Office Record and Register of Copyrights and Trade Marks|year = 1895|publisher = Patent Office|page = 437|language = en}}

File:Dante Gabriel Rossetti - Woman Combing Her Hair (1865).jpg – Woman Combing Her Hair (1865)]]

Combs can be used for many purposes. Historically, their main purpose was securing long hair in place, decorating the hair, matting sections of hair for dreadlocks, or keeping a kippah or skullcap in place. In Spain, a peineta is a large decorative comb used to keep a mantilla in place.

In industry and craft, combs are used in separating cotton fibres from seeds and other debris (the cotton gin, a mechanized version of the comb, is one of the machines that ushered in the Industrial Revolution). A comb is used to distribute colors in paper marbling to make the swirling colour patterns in comb-marbled paper.{{Cite book|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=kY92BMFNFjUC|title = Marbled Paper: Its History, Techniques, and Patterns: with Special Reference to the Relationship of Marbling to Bookbinding in Europe and the Western World|last = Wolfe|first = Richard J.|year = 1990|publisher = University of Pennsylvania Press|isbn = 9780812281880|language = en}}

Combs are also a tool used by police investigators to collect hair and dandruff samples that can be used in ascertaining dead or living persons' identities, as well as their state of health and toxicological profiles.{{Cite book|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=6ZY0AAAAIAAJ|title = Practical Instruction in Police Work and Detective Science: A Course of Instruction ... Containing Lecture-lessons for Law Enforcement Officers and Others|last1 = O'Sullivan|first1 = Frank Dalton|last2 = Wright|first2 = Walter Edward|year = 1940|publisher = American Police Review Publishing Company|language = en}}

Sharing combs is a common cause of parasitic infections much like sharing a hat, as one user can leave a comb with eggs or live parasites, facilitating the transmission of lice, fleas, mites, fungi, and other undesirables. Siblings are also more likely to pass on nits to each other if they share a comb.{{Cite book|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=Y5Y_sA6A83wC|title = All You Wanted To Know About Hair Care|last1 = Sinha|first1 = Meenakshi|last2 = Rajgopal|first2 = Reena|last3 = Banerjee|first3 = Suchismita|year = 2012|publisher = Sterling Publishers Pvt. Ltd|isbn = 9788120791022|language = en}}

{{main|Comb and paper}}

Stringing a plant's leaf or a piece of paper over one side of the comb and humming with cropped lips on the opposite side dramatically increases the high-frequency harmonic content of the hum produced by the human voice box, and the resulting spread sound spectrum can be modulated by changing the resonating frequency of the oral cavity.{{Cite book|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=fVrIoX5kQt8C|title = The Everything Lawn Care Book: From Seed to Soil, Mowing to Fertilizing – hundreds of Tips for Growing a Beautiful Lawn|last = Green|first = Douglas|year = 2001|publisher = Adams Media|isbn = 9781580624879|page = 23|language = en}}{{Dead link|date=April 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} This was the inspiration for the kazoo, a membranophone.

The comb is also a lamellophone. Comb teeth have harmonic qualities of their own, determined by their shape, length, and material. A comb with teeth of unequal length, capable of producing different notes when picked, eventually evolved into the thumb piano{{Cite book|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=4CeFAC5MdxwC|title = The Cambridge History of American Music|last = Nicholls|first = David|year = 1998|publisher = Cambridge University Press|isbn = 9780521454292|language = en}} and music box.{{Cite book|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=ckw5AQAAIAAJ|title = Cylinder musical box technology: including makers, types, dating, and music|last = Bulleid|first = Henry Anthony Vaughan|year = 1994|publisher = Almar Press|isbn = 9780930256227|language = en|access-date = 2016-03-07|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20161223064347/https://books.google.com/books?id=ckw5AQAAIAAJ|archive-date = 2016-12-23|url-status = live}}

{{Main|Shubi (comb)}}

In China, combs are referred to by the generic term {{Transliteration|zh|shubi}} ({{Lang-zh|c=梳篦|labels=no}}) or {{Transliteration|zh|zhi}} ({{Lang-zh|c=栉|labels=no}}) and originated about 6000 years ago during the late Neolithic period. Chinese combs are referred as {{Transliteration|zh|shu}} ({{Lang-zh|c=梳|labels=no}}) when referring to thick-tooth comb and {{Transliteration|zh|bi}} ({{Lang-zh|c=篦|labels=no}}) when referred to thin-tooth comb.{{Cite web |title=Chinese Shubi [page 1] |url=http://en.chinaculture.org/library/2008-01/22/content_74068.htm |access-date=2021-05-07 |website=en.chinaculture.org}} A form of {{Transliteration|zh|shubi}} produced in Changzhou is the Changzhou comb; the Palace Comb Factory, also called Changzhou combs Factory, found in the city of Changzhou started to operate since the 5th century and continues to produce handmade wooden combs up to this day.{{Rp|page=87}}{{Transliteration|zh|Shubi}} were also introduced in Japan during the Nara period where they were referred by the generic name {{Transliteration|ja|kushi}}.{{Cite journal |last=Zhang |first=Linyi |date=2019 |title=Comparison of aesthetic styles of decorative combs in Japan and China |url=http://ojslib3.buu.in.th/index.php/art/article/view/5167 |journal=วารสารศิลปกรรมบูรพา |volume=20 |issue=1 |pages=374–384}}

File:Shang Jade Comb.jpg|{{Transliteration|zh|Shu}}, Shang dynasty comb

File:Chinese Shoubo (Subak), Qin Dynasty archaeological picture on a comb.jpg|Qin dynasty comb

File:Western Han Jade Comb (9910182985).jpg|Western Han jade comb

File:Comb, China, Tang dynasty, 618-907, silver, gilt - Royal Ontario Museum - DSC04145.JPG|Tang dynasty comb

File:Changzhou Double-edged Fine-toothed Comb 01 2015-04.jpg|Changzhou comb, double-edged fine-toothed comb

In Japan, combs are referred to as {{Transliteration|ja|kushi}}. Indigenous Japanese {{Transliteration|ja|kushi}} started to be used by Japanese people about 6000 years ago in the Jōmon era. In the Nara period, Chinese combs from the Tang dynasty were introduced in Japan. Another form of comb in Japan is the Satsuma comb, which started to appear around the 17th century and was produced by the samurai warriors of the Satsuma clan as a side job.{{Cite web |title=Satsuma Comb – A Traditional Craft created by Samurai Warriors |website=Najimu-Japan |url=http://najimu-japan.com/satsuma-comb/ |access-date=2022-08-19 |language=en-GB}}

File:Ornamental Japanese comb, tortoiseshell with lacquer, Edo or Taisho, Honolulu Museum of Art.JPG|{{Transliteration|ja|Kushi}} made of tortoiseshell with lacquer, Japan, Edo or Taiso period

File:Hana kushi.jpg|{{Transliteration|ja|Hana kushi}}

File:Kamm mit Verkündigung KGM F1625.jpg, possibly made in Italy, 15th century]]

A liturgical comb is a decorated comb with used ceremonially in both Catholic and Orthodox Christianity during the Middle Ages, and in Byzantine Rite up to this day.{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FtlMAgAAQBAJ&pg=RA1-PA183 |title=The Grove Encyclopedia of Medieval Art and Architecture |volume=2 |date=2012 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0195395365 |editor-last=Hourihane |editor-first=Colum |pages=183–184}}

File:HMB Läusekamm Jungsteinzeit.jpg comb, made of bent twigs, Sutz-Lattrigen, around 2700 BC]]

Specialized combs such as "flea combs" or "nit combs" can be used to remove macroscopic parasites and cause them damage by combing.{{Cite book |last=Copeland |first=Lennie |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8-lJ0tQazlcC&q=nit%2520comb&pg=PT33 |title=The Lice-Buster Book: What to Do When Your Child Comes Home with Head Lice |publisher=Grand Central |year=2001 |isbn=9780759526297 |language=en}} A comb with teeth fine enough to remove nits is sometimes called a "fine-toothed comb", as in the metaphoric usage "go over [something] with a fine-toothed comb", meaning to search closely and in detail. Sometimes in this meaning, "fine-toothed comb" has been reanalysed as "fine toothcomb" and then shortened to "toothcomb", or changed into forms such as "the finest of toothcombs".{{cite web |title=fine toothcomb/fine-tooth comb |url=http://wsu.edu/~brians/errors/toothcomb.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100528052026/http://www.wsu.edu/%7Ebrians/errors/toothcomb.html |archive-date=2010-05-28 |access-date=2012-01-19 |publisher=WSU.edu}}{{cite web |last=Morewitz |first=H. |date=2008 |title=A Brief History of Lice Combs |url=http://nuvoforheadlice.com/lice_combs.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080510153456/http://nuvoforheadlice.com/lice_combs.htm |archive-date=2008-05-10 |access-date=2008-06-29 |website=Nuvoforheadlice.com}}

An Afro pick is a type of comb having long, thick teeth which is usually used on kinky or Afro-textured hair. It is longer and thinner than the typical comb, and it is sometimes worn in the hair.{{Cite book |last=Moore |first=Jennifer Grayer |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GDoVCwAAQBAJ |title=Fashion Fads Through American History: Fitting Clothes into Context |publisher=ABC-CLIO |year=2015 |isbn=9781610699020 |language=en}}{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xFsDAAAAMBAJ |title=Jet |publisher=Johnson |year=1972 |language=en}}File:Handmade African 'Afro' Combs.png The history of the Afro pick dates back at least 5,000 years, as a practical tool that may also have cultural and political meaning.{{cite web |title=Origins of the Afro Comb |url=https://afrocombs.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/index.html |publisher=cam.ac.uk}}

An unbreakable plastic comb is a comb that, despite being made of plastic rather than (more expensive) metal, does not shatter into multiple pieces if dropped on a hard surface such as bathroom tiles, a hardwood floor, or pavement.{{Cite book |last=Adams |first=Glenn Arthur |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yO3HbKLNx5EC |title=A Likely Story |publisher=iUniverse |year=2000 |isbn=9780595004294 |language=en |access-date=2016-03-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161223054634/https://books.google.com/books?id=yO3HbKLNx5EC |archive-date=2016-12-23 |url-status=live}} Such combs were introduced in the mid-twentieth century.{{Cite book |last=Division |first=Great Britain Central Office of Information Reference |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-2UhAQAAIAAJ&q=unbreakable+plastic+comb |title=Home Affairs Survey |year=1951 |language=en}} Today most plastic combs are unbreakable as technology has reached a point of understanding the causation of brittleness in these products.{{Cite book |last1=International |first1=A. S. M. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RJWiilJLdxYC |title=Characterization and Failure Analysis of Plastics |last2=Lampman |first2=Steve |publisher=ASM International |year=2003 |isbn=9781615030736 |language=en}}

File:Modern artisan metal combs.jpg

Modern artisan combs crafted from a wide variety of new and recycled materials have become popular over recent years. Used skateboard decks, vinyl records,{{cite web |title=Tame your hipster beard with a comb made from what? |url=https://www.cnet.com/news/tame-your-hipster-beard-with-a-comb-made-from-what/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160414050157/http://www.cnet.com/news/tame-your-hipster-beard-with-a-comb-made-from-what/ |archive-date=2016-04-14 |access-date=2016-10-18}} brass, titanium alloy, acrylic, sterling silver, and exotic wood are a few of the materials being used.

Some hair combs are designed to be used similarly to hairpins, to hold hair away from the face, or in updos.{{Cite web |title=French Side Combs Are the Chicest Hair Accessory of the Moment |url=https://www.lilycherie.com/blog/french-side-combs |access-date=2025-05-30 |website=Lily Chérie |language=en-US}} Shorter ones may be worn in hair on the side of the head,{{Cite web |last= |date=2015-01-09 |title=How To Use Side Combs in Your Hair |url=https://sassydove.com/side-combs-hair/ |access-date=2025-05-30 |website=Sassy Dove |language=en-US}} or to accessorize a bun.{{Cite web |last=Arendoski |first=Emma |date=2015-07-11 |title=How to Beautifully Wear a Hair Comb the Right Way |url=https://emmalinebride.com/bride/how-to-wear-a-hair-comb/ |access-date=2025-05-30 |website=Emmaline Bride |language=en-US}} Longer ones may be purpose-made to hold up specific hairstyles, such as the French twist.{{Cite web |last=Metcalfe |first=Brooke |date=2024-10-25 |title=How To Use French Combs {{!}} Hairstyle Inspiration |url=https://tegenaccessories.com/blogs/tegen-accessories-blog-posts/how-to-use-french-combs |access-date=2025-05-30 |website=Tegen Accessories |language=en}}{{Clear}}

File:Egyptian - Wooden Comb - Walters 61306.jpg|Ancient Egyptian comb, {{circa}} fifteenth century BC

File:Etruscan - Comb with Lions and Geometric Designs - Walters 71495.jpg|Etruscan comb, {{circa}} seventh century BC

File:Scythian comb.jpg|Scythian comb, {{circa}} 400 BC

File:KB Knochenkamm.jpg|Ancient Roman comb, 4th or 5th century AD

File:Kam-med-runer-fra-Vimose DO-4148 2000.jpg|The world's oldest runic inscription (160 AD) on the Vimose comb, Denmark

File:MaryRose-combs.jpg|A set of combs found on the 16th-century ship Mary Rose

File:Sculptured Comb in Ivory of the Sixteenth Century Sauvageot Collection.png|Ivory sculptured comb, 16th century

File:Indian antique comb.jpg|Indian metal comb for keeping hair in place, adorned with a pair of birds. After removing the central stopper, perfume can be poured into the opening in order to moisten the teeth of the comb and the hair of the wearer.

File:Punjabi Comb.JPG|A Punjabi wooden comb

File:Nissenkamm-01.jpg|Head louse comb

File:Modern metal comb from Chicago Comb .jpg|Artisan hand-finished metal comb

File:MHNT ETH.AC.NC.203 (black background).jpg|Bamboo comb of the Kanak people

File:Wooden comb1.jpg|Wooden comb in Nepal.

• Hairbrush
• Razor
• Uncombable hair syndrome

{{Reflist}}

{{Wiktionary}}

{{Commons category|Combs}}

• {{cite journal|author=Ashby, S.|date= 2011 |title=An Atlas of Medieval Combs from Northern Europe|journal = Internet Archaeology|issue= 30 |doi = 10.11141/ia.30.3}}
• {{cite web|url=https://www.ehowenespanol.com/peine-navaje-como_124155/|title=Cómo usar un peine navaje (How to Use Razor Combs)|author=Ireland, Kay |language=es|website=eHow en Espanol}}
• {{cite web|url=http://www.theoriginof.com/combs.html|website=TheOriginOf.com|title=The Origin of Combs|access-date=2008-09-11|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120913072227/http://www.theoriginof.com/combs.html|archive-date=2012-09-13|url-status=dead}}

{{Cleaning tools}}

{{Human hair}}

{{Plucked idiophones}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Comb lamellophones

Category:Domestic implements

Category:Early musical instruments

Category:Hairdressing

Category:Toiletry

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