Hair clipper

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Hair clippers are specialized implements used to cut human head hair. They should not be confused with razors (which usually refer to tools used to cut facial hair or bodily hair) and scissors.

[edit] Manual hair clippers

Manual hair clippers are widely used to cut hair and sometimes they are still in use. They are operated by hand, unlike electric clippers. These clippers were invented by Leland, an American inventor, in the 19th century^[1]. Barbers used them to cut hair close and fast. The hair was picked up in locks and the head was rapidly depilated. Such haircuts became popular among boys, mostly in schools, and young men in the military and in prisons.

Today, manual hair clippers are on the decline, because of the advent of electric hair clippers. Some barbers in Western countries continue to use them for trimming. They are also used in Russian army. When conscripts enter bootcamp, first they are forced to cut their hair close to the skin. In some cases this practice is done by using hand-powered clippers^[2].

In Greece, male students had their heads shaved by means of manual hair clippers from the early 20th century to late 1970s. The same practice was used in the military, where recruits had their heads shaved as they set foot in the boot camp. This practice was abolished in Greece in 1982, contrary to countries like the United States and Russia where the practice still holds, even by using electric clippers. In 1950s and in 1960s a law was implemented in Greece, saying that head shaving with manual clippers was to be used as a punishment for young people caught by police, such as teddyboys and prostitutes. This practice continued with Greek hippies and leftist youths, during the 1967-73 military regime.

The manual hair clippers are still used extensively by barbers in India to give short back and sides haircuts.

[edit] Electric hair clippers

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Electric hair clippers have gradually displaced manual hair clippers. Today, electric hair clippers are used by the vast majority of barbers in industrialized countries.