Perhaps I'm not the best person to write about this particular Apostolic phenomenon because I was never an avid user of them, but Stuff Apostolics Like could not be complete without at least a mention of hot sticks. Don't act like you don't know what they are. Conair is the brand du jour and they come in sets of pink and purple. And let's keep it real. Apostolic girls LURVE them some hot sticks. At least they did when I was present during the 2 hours most of my camp friends needed to get ready before night service. At least 2 sets were a must to tame the glory manes. I was even pressured into letting Polly or whoever put a few sticks in my hair a time or two, and I must say, my tendril game was tight those nights.
Hot sticks and me
I have a little confession to make about hot sticks, though. Simply put, I don't have hot stick-esque hair. And at that time, during my camp days, foolish as it may sound, hot sticks became an emblem of everything I was not. Hot sticks was that disappointing reminder that no one asked me to the pizza party that year or swapped badges with me. Hot sticks was that girl who got up there and tore up the solo of that JCM song the choir sang that night. Hot sticks represented that Pentecostaliciousness I would never be able to attain. Hot sticks let me know that I was different, a welcomed, but never-quite-at-home addition to the gaggle of skirt-wearing girls I was proud to be a part of.
Eventually, I learned the ways of the curling iron. I've never been the same since.
Hot sticks took us from the Farrah Fawcett "wings" of the 70s to the amazing (cough, cough) poofs of the 80s. What an invention!
ReplyDeleteEven Apostolic girls in Australia 'NEEDED' these. I remember my sister and her friends all going crazy for them! seems to of been replaced by the hair straightener nowadays... at least over here...
ReplyDeleteI look at that picture and waves of memories come back to me. They sat in my older sister's room growing up. I was never sure what they did (i dit not even know they were for hair it seems)...but the box seemed ripe of potential for apostolic female fashionable goodness ready to slay the hearts of males at any onsetting camp/rally service.
ReplyDelete*Cough*Cough* Umm... I still use them... *Blushing* LOL but not as much anymore! LOL Only I use 2 1/2 sets to wear my hair up and 5+ sets for my hair down!! LOL
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I know a certain young woman that grew up in my house that has 8 complete sets of these things. She still uses them when she gets to be the hairdresser at a wedding. Oh the curly glory that is produced.
ReplyDeleteWe probably keep these people in business! I have at least two sets! Although I'm not using them very much anymore, they were a definate must growing up as an apostolic girl!
ReplyDeleteI totally feel you, Chantell, about the feeling of being different. I've never had one hot stick in my hair. If a hot stick was placed in my hair when I was a teenager, it would have laughed. I'm black. The curling iron is a must.
ReplyDeleteLast anonymous, you made my day. Hotstickless Apostolic black girls unite! :-)
ReplyDeleteAnyone still have the sets with THREE rows, not just the measly two-row sets?
ReplyDeleteI happen to have two ANCIENT three-row sets, and I remember when Conair started selling the two-row sets... it was a major problem! This makes me sound really old, but I'm not -- but my hot sticks are :)
I remember the 3 row set. I had them at one time as well. Anyone remember the sets that were lime green and were spiral, squiggly and wavy?
ReplyDeleteOh my goodness, I just gave away 4 sets of these hair-killers. I was told the first week I was in church that I needed to go out and buy these things at Wal-Mart. So I did and by the time I was ready to retire them, I had MASTERED the Hot-Sticks technique! You always roll them IN, not facing up. And when you take them out, make sure to roll the Hot-Sticks out the way the curl goes, not just pull them...and don't forget to separate the curls! You wouldn't want the curls to be even frizzier than the Hot-Sticks already made them. :)
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