Entry · catalog no. 7011
jheri curl
/ /ˈdʒɛri kɜːrl/ /JEH-ree-kurl
noun · nationwide · 1980s
✓ Verified
1.
A hairstyle achieved by chemically loosening the hair into soft, shining curls kept moist with activator and oil; a signature Black look of the 1980s.
“He kept a shower cap and a bottle of activator in the glovebox to keep the jheri curl right.”
Origin & Attribution
The chemical process was devised in the late 1970s by Robert Jheri Redding, a white hairdresser, but it became a Black cultural phenomenon through entrepreneur Comer Cottrell, whose Pro-Line Curly Kit (1980) put the look within reach for under ten dollars. Worn by Michael Jackson, Lionel Richie, and much of Black America through its mid-1980s peak, it was later turned into a punchline — a reminder that Black styling innovation is often first copied, then mocked.
late 1970s
Redding develops the process
1980
Comer Cottrell's Pro-Line Curly Kit brings it to the masses
mid-1980s
Peak popularity; Michael Jackson, Lionel Richie
Region of origin
West
Midwest
N.East
South
Nationwide / diaspora
nationwide · 1980s
Spoken by
Black America, 1980s
$JHERICThe Record · cultural traction
▲ Faded46 yrs
ahead of the mainstream
50/100
peak cultural energy
Introduced to English by the culture — logged here before the mainstream caught on.
Cultural usage — the recordMainstream search interest
First used
1980
in the culture
Cultural energy indexed from documented usage, search interest, and citation frequency. The recorded date is the archive’s permanent point of record.
Hear it spoken
By region — how it actually sounds
@auntiereg
Atlanta, GA
@deltasoul
Memphis, TN
Contribute your pronunciation
Citations & Sources
■
The Hustle, The beauty entrepreneur who made the Jheri curl a sensation (Comer Cottrell)
2020
■
+ Cite a sourceEncyclopedia entry, Jheri curl history
2019
See also