Oldest working electric hairdryer

British hairdryer set world record in 2010:
An 80-year-old electric hairdryer, made by a Siemens branch in Britain, is setting the world record for the oldest working electronic hairdryer. It remains in perfect working order and, according to its owner, retired insurance company director John Wilcox, it has never broken down or even needed a service,
The dryer's only controls are on/off and hot/cold. It came with a Bakelite carry-case – now slightly cracked – complete with a vanity mirror.
The brown Bakelite item's only concession to technological advances has been a new plug – and only then because its original round-pin type became obsolete.
Though Siemens is a German firm, according to the engineering history website Grace's Guide, it established Siemens Electric Lamps and Supplies Ltd in Britain in 1931 to manufacture domestic appliances such as this dryer.
Mr Wilcox, 83, from Paignton, Devon, recalls watching his mother Florrie use it at the family home in Birmingham, 70 years ago.

Kay Wilcox shows off the 1930s Bakerlite hairdryer.

 

They progress from an unfettered look in her teens to a more structured cut. 'Having an electric hairdryer in the Thirties was still a luxury for women,' said Mrs Wilcox.