i should add to my jc tale that the only evidence i have of my curl days is a portrait-sized picture of me that is sitting on my grandma’s mantle (which means the picture is 20+ years old). what makes it worse it that it’s in her living room and to enter her house, you must enter through the living room, so everyone who visits sees it.

i’ve tried to convince her to get a more recent picture of me (so i could burn that photo). i’m like, ‘granny, don’t you want to update that picture?’ and then she’s like, ‘no, chile, i love that picture. you were by sweet baby girl then.’ i’m like, ‘damn!’ through my teeth and under my breath, of course. lol!

however, my grandmother has curly hair and when the jheri curl came along it was like a godsend for her cause she could apply activator to her hair to manage her curls. we would crack up at my grandma’s ‘jheri curl’. in fact, to this day, she still uses activator on her hair.

Let me first set the foundation for this timely tale: My dad and my uncle are old school playas still living in a time warp in a small town approx 30 miles east of Atlanta; for they do not realize the error in the Jheri Curls that they sport (especially my Dad who has managed to “mold” his curl into a flat top box—his ability to do this has stumped me for years; my mother (who would want me to tell you that she never had a curl) contends that whilst they were married,she could not keep a good set of pillow cases; fast forward to ‘07: any woman who allows her man to wear a curl should be ashamed…so my step-mother should be pimp-slapped for not checking my dad!)

Said uncle (Uncle Jheri Curl) is a cosmetologist who “brought the curl out” in said small town circa 1980. Might I say that he is stuck in the small town and the 80’s—literally and figuratively, respectively.

After watching CB4 on Saturday night with the hubby and my 14 y.o. stepson, they (’cause hubby has “good hair” and stepson is clueless) had legions of queries about “the curl”. Though I never had one, but come from a family where Jheri Curl is King, I assured them that I would have Uncle Jheri Curl delve into the intricasies of the curl the next day.

Never one to disappoint, Uncle Jheri Curl showed up on my ATL doorstep on Father’s Day with a cheap “a”, mustard-colored linen short set (now that I think about it, the “shorts” sort of looked like capris—but I digress) , lauding the fact that he, at 52, won a “Walk It Out” contest last weekend and his curl (which looks very much like a cocker spaniel’s ears, just add a bang) glistening ‘just so’.

After intoxicating Uncle JC with much BBQ, freshly squeezed lemonade and the good corner of his favorite (and my home made) strawberry shortcake, I baited him up (with an audience in tow) to reveal the enigma that is the curl (or the “KULL”, as we jokingly pronounce it).

1. He was a premiere platform artist for Bronner Brothers and “did all ‘they’ shows”. Apparently he had great dexterity and was able to roll a successful curl in record time.
2. His trademark (and he said that he had T-shirts printed that also exclaimed this): ‘If I can catch it (being hair), I can roll it’. O…K….
3. During Easter 1987, he set a goal that he would roll 100 curls by the end of April. On his 100th curl, the lights went out in his ’shop’ (a converted garage in his home) so he thought quickly and rolled said final curl by candlelight. He made $3500 that month ‘rolling heads’ alone.
4.He used the $3500 to buy a LUV truck; which, using a bootleg Mercedes emblem from my booster aunt, he converted into a Benz due to some crafty grill work (I know this has nothing to do with a curl, but I just thought this was hilarious)
5. He was such the legend, clients came from “up the road” (i.e. Atlanta) to his chair
6. Over the years, he has dwindled from 100 curl-seeking clients per month to approximately 3 old ladies who, like him, refuse to let the KULL go. But be not mistaken, he wholeheartedly believes that the curl is sure to make a comeback(yeah…….right……)