After much trial and error, after countless mixtures that just wer- en’t right, young Annie Turnbo had finally done it. She had come up with the exact right recipe for what she called, “Wonderful Hair Grower.” She knew it was the perfect formula for her tightly curled African-American hair because her older sisters tried all of Annie’s recipes and loved it.
Annie and her family and friends were always trying something new in their hair to replace lost oils or smooth out the tangles. Goose fat, harsh soaps, and even bacon grease were sometimes used, but they left scalps itchy and hair brittle. That nothing seemed to work did not stop Annie. Eventually, Annie’s Wonderful Hair Grower worked! Until this time, Annie’s life didn’t have much good fortune. Her par- ents were former slaves, and she was the tenth of eleven children. To make matters worse, she was orphaned at an early age, leaving her and her siblings the opportunity to show the world what they were made of. Annie took to the streets of her hometown of Lovejoy, Illinois with ambition in her heart and began selling her Wonderful Hair Grower door-to-door. Word spread, and more and more of her neighbors bought her handcrafted hair formula.
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