Related Inventions

Flannigan's Follicle Restorer, circa. 1877

The Personal Digital Assistant, circa 1897

The Single Action Facial Hair Removal Device, circa 1899
Flannigan's Digital-Vacuum Device, circa 1900

The Nostril Streching and Nose Hair Clpping Device, circa 1901

The Brow Brush, circa. 1864

Michael Flannigan was at the height of his inventing prowess in the mid-1860s, but he had yet to recreate the (initial) successes of the Nautch, the Particulate Breathing Apparatus or the Introspection Wheel. It was the latter device that inspired the Brow Brush.

The device was originally intended to be used as a relaxing agent, a soothing massage for any gent's tense scalp. The customer would sit in the chair, and by means of a pedal, control the rapidity of his relaxation. This was far too much work for the average gentleman. As a result, hundreds of discarded Brow Brushes soon found their way into the quarters of man-servants throughout the Realm, and by 1864, valets everywhere were using them. Unfortunately, they were using them not to massage their brows, furrowed by servitude, but to clean their hair quickly and efficiently while they shaved. This latter use became standard. Flannigan - who was always in touch with his customers - learned from some valets that the only complaint they had was that it still took too long to clean up before they spent their day catering to their employers every whim.

So Flannigan patented the Servant's Brow Brush. (1) His marketing campaign extolled the new device: "Extra Strong for Today's Busy Valet." Extra strong meant that he replaced the horse-hair bristles with 10-gauge wire bristles. Luckily, his solicitors were able to handle the ensuing civil suits. (2)

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Notes:

(1) Patent historians have confused the Servant's Brow Brush with another invention popular with female servants in the Victorian era, the Womb Broom.

(2) At the same time, Flannigan's inventing nemesis, J.C. Walton, made a small fortune selling "head bandages" and "temporary scalp and hair replacements".