In the early 1900s, a woman by the name of Sarah Breedlove was working as a

laundress, washing other people's clothing in a big wooden wash tub.

Check out the stench on these socks. Did they own a dip them in socks, right?

Hey, you!

But stinky socks were the least of Sarah's problems. As a single mom, she was

working crazy hours to support her young daughter. She was totally stressed out

and at the age of 38, she made the alarming discovery that her hair was falling

out.

Oh, man. Look at the crops in my hand as a brush. Oh, it's even more than yesterday.

Now, it turns out Sarah wasn't alone. At the start of the 20th century, many of her

fellow African-American women were dealing with hair loss. Indoor plumbing

wasn't yet a widespread thing, so they couldn't wash their hair often. And when

they did, most hair care products were made for white women and were harsh and

drying on black women's hair. Sarah Breedlove was losing hair and losing hope

until one night in 1905, when she had a dream. The way she described it, a quote,

big black man appeared with the cure to her woes.

Sarah, in order to stop your hair from falling out and to make a grow back all

soft, healthy and strong, you must mix together the following ingredients.

First, petrol later.

That's the thick, greasy, yellow stuff we call petroleum jelly.

The second ingredient is sulfur.

That's the yellow mineral that smells like rotten eggs when you mix it with hydrogen.

...