Hair-product objects: Ultra Wave → Ultra Sheen → Afro Sheen
PROVISIONAL evidence grade of this record
Physical objects that sat on Black Chicago bathroom counters and in barbershops/beauty shops: the Ultra Wave relaxer (1954, aimed at men/barbers), Ultra Sheen (1957, aimed at women), and Afro Sheen (1970s, natural hair). Each marks a generational hair practice.
Notes
Merged into canonical KG 2026-10-03 from LIFE-001; source entity IDs: CTL-DR-LIFE-001:CTL-LIFE-E-051; source research type(s): object.
Sources
- Wikipedia, "Johnson Products Company"
- AP via 990theanswer.com (2026-07-07); Ebony
Record CTL-E-1314 · CultureTechLens Knowledge Graph · evidence grade: PROVISIONAL · 2 sources · CTL research: LIFE-001.
Directory: all entity records · the knowledge graph
Cite this record
Chicago: CultureTechLens. “Hair-product objects: Ultra Wave → Ultra Sheen → Afro Sheen (CTL-E-1314).” CultureTechLens Knowledge Graph. Chicago, IL: CultureTechLens, 2026. https://culturetechlens.com/graph/entities/ctl-e-1314/
APA: CultureTechLens. (2026). Hair-product objects: Ultra Wave → Ultra Sheen → Afro Sheen (CTL-E-1314) [Entity record]. CultureTechLens Knowledge Graph. https://culturetechlens.com/graph/entities/ctl-e-1314/
MLA: CultureTechLens. “Hair-product objects: Ultra Wave → Ultra Sheen → Afro Sheen (CTL-E-1314).” CultureTechLens Knowledge Graph, 2026, https://culturetechlens.com/graph/entities/ctl-e-1314/
Citation guidance for teachers, journalists, and funders: How to Cite Us.
From the Archive
The archive in pictures
The people, places, and institutions this work documents. Photographs from the CultureTechLens research record — rights-cleared, credited, and cited like everything else here.



Trust & evidence
Evidence before authority. CultureTechLens publishes its methods, its limits, and its corrections alongside its findings. Claims carry grades — VERIFIED, SUPPORTED, PROVISIONAL, DISPUTED, UNRESOLVED — and unknowns are never reported as zero.
Every claim graded. Every source named. Every correction public — none to date.