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The house on Salt Spring Island where the original Knotty Boy website was launched in 1998. For its first three years the entire Knotty Boy company was operated out of this humble home.
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You're looking at the very first Knotty Boy one-page website! Launched in '98, it only had a few photos, basic directions for using wax (the only product at the time), a price & address.
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The very first Knotty Boy Dread Wax and Dread Shampoo Bar labels from 1999, the only two products developed at the time. View our current dread wax and dread shampoo labels.
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Another one of the many Knotty Boy website versions circa 2002. In just a few short years the site grew to include a snazzy photo gallery, apparel, accessories, and loads more dread info!
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Adrianna sitting on the now retired Knotty Boy product delivery van, lovingly nicknamed The Toaster, before Knotty Boy's big move to Vancouver, B.C. from Salt Spring Island in 2001.
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Knotty Boy debuts at its first trade show, the Cannabis Cup in Amsterdam, 2002
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The Knotty Boy Lock Shop & Salon opened its doors in 2004, becoming Vancouver's first extreme hair destination! Visitors from all over the world have been dropping in ever since.
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Look familiar? This Knotty Boy website design was most recently used before the one you see in front of you, and lasted the longest from 2005-2011. Orange you glad for change?
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Behold the evolution of the Knotty Boy himself! He's sure gone through a lot over the years, everything from being a pumpkin to a doctor but he still loves his snug orange t-shirt the best.
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Meet the people behind Knotty Boy! Since the beginning, Knotty Boy has remained a small company with a family feel, and we're proud to show you exactly who we are. Say hello!
OUR STORY
Once upon a time, way back around the year 1997 when the world had only dial-up Internet, there lived a boy who had wild and unruly hair.
His name was Andrew, and no matter how hard he tried to tame his big, curly mane, it had a mind of its own and grew wild like a raspberry bush. It seemed his hair had finally won when Andrew decided to try the very last thing he could think of - dreadlocking it. But it wasn't so simple.
At that time it was difficult to find information about dreadlocks. No dedicated websites existed and certainly no dreadlock-only hair salons. Andrew knew he could neglect his hair for a very long time until it eventually locked on its own in the traditional way, but it was important to him that his locks be washed, groomed and sweet-smelling from the start. No such locking method seemed to exist, so Andrew made an appointment at a local Afro hair salon thinking surely they would be able to help him in his quest for quick, clean locks.
As it turned out, his loctician had never worked with his hair type before, which is probably why Andrew didn't end up with the locks he was hoping for. To make matters worse, the products recommended to keep his soft, loose, white-boy curls together just left them greasy, wet and, saddest of all, unlocked.
Luckily for Andrew, he knew an innovative girl named Adrianna who had been making natural body products in her home as a hobby. Scouring libraries for recipe books, herbals and biographies on Rastafarian and other dreadlocked subcultures, she learned as much as she could about the ancient hairstyle and natural hair-product creation. Then, right on her kitchen stove, concocting a recipe of beeswax and natural oils, Adrianna whipped up a small batch of hair wax they quickly discovered miraculously held Andrew's new knots in, while allowing his hair to be washed like normal!
Within a few short months, and for the first time in his life, Andrew had hair he could not only manage, but that he loved. People stopped him in the street to admire and ask how he had made such great-looking locks. His hair troubles were finally ending, but unbeknownst to this new knotty boy, or Adrianna, something bigger had begun...
Two years later, the friends found themselves on Salt Spring Island, a forested wonderland nestled off the coast of Vancouver where traffic lights don't exist and living in tree-forts is not unusual. Winter was coming, which, for this small, tourism-based community, meant far less jobs. Out of work but not wanting to be forced to leave this magical new place, Adrianna and Andrew racked their brains for a way they could stay. They test-marketed a slough of ideas from super-food pancake mixes to vinyl record cleaners with no real success. Discouraged, it looked as though they may have no choice but to head back to the big, bad city. Then it hit them like a lightening bolt: Andrew's locks were looking really good...
And there were still no dreadlock-specific hair products out there. Was it because nobody wanted them? Adrianna and Andrew were about to find out. For the first time in years, Adrianna gathered the original ingredients, bought a few jars from the dollar store and put the Wax formula to melt on the stove. With only a couple photos, basic directions, a price and address, the first one-page Knotty Boy @ Angelfire.com website was hesitantly launched.
The very first jar of Knotty Boy Dread Wax, made on Adrianna's kitchen stove on Salt Spring Island back in 1998!
The Wax Thickens {How Knotty Boy Grew}
Within five days, handwritten notes and cash began arriving from as far as Australia and Japan. Within a few weeks, the mailbox was overflowing with orders for the World's first all natural hair product for starting and maintaining dreadlocks. In utter disbelief, Adrianna and Andrew worked non-stop, surrounded day and night by bubbling pots and jars of cooling Wax. It didn't take long for them to buy out every last ingredient available on little Salt Spring Island. The two had no choice but to ferry over to larger Vancouver Island to begin knocking on farmers' doors, doing 60 km/hr on the highway on a tiny scooter with 100lbs of raw beeswax between their knees.
Just like a baby, Knotty Boy grew. The next three years were a waxy whirlwind. Sales exploded, along with the Internet, and online shopping became less risky. Requests were pouring in for more dreadlock products and Knotty Boy, listening carefully to their customers, added the World's first all natural Dreadlock Shampoo. The manufacturing space on Salt Spring Island, which by now had expanded to other Islanders' kitchens, quickly became too small for the burgeoning business. It was obvious that to keep up, Knotty Boy needed to find a bigger crib.
In 2001, Knotty Boy relocated to Vancouver, where the very first jar of Wax had been created years before, and teamed up with a local body-product manufacturer who shared, and still shares, the same fierce commitment to all natural, ethically sourced ingredients. With more resources and experience on their side, Knotty Boy worked hard to develop a complete family of natural dreadlock care products as quickly as customers asked for them. The unique Knotty Boy line popped up on store shelves worldwide, and back home, people from far-flung lands themselves were dropping in to get their hair locked at Vancouver's first extreme-hair destination: The Knotty Boy Lock Shop & Salon, opened April 20, 2004.
Since 1998, Knotty Boy Natural Dreadlock Care has been dedicated to all natural, ethical, gimmick-free products, prompt and friendly customer service and big-time purpose beyond profits. We believe this commitment is responsible for the hundreds of thousands of Knotty Boy products sold, thousands of photos from happy customers in the Knotty Boy Dreadlock Gallery and our wonderful, growing, international Knotty Family.
The Knotty Boy story begins with just one boy, but in the end, it's all about you, Knotty ones. Thank you for taking the time to read about our humble beginnings. Knotty Boy is still a small, independently-owned company and has been nothing short of a gift and a blessing from day one. We simply couldn't have done it without you!
Andrew Power Memorial - Knotty Boy co-founder and original Knotty boy
Nathan Matthews Memorial - long-time Knotty Boy graphic designer and friend
Bill Hepper's Survival Story - Knotty Boy's first Sales Manager and Adrianna's Dad
