Noorpur Thal’s fading wooden comb industry
From 1890 to 1895, there was an industry in Noorpur Thal which used to produce special wooden combs. The industry was the source of income for thousands of people associated with it and it. The industry has now completely vanished.
Many of the industries that were once at their peak have declined over time.
Interestingly, in those days, several people were involved in the industry, earning a living and raising children easily.
People associated with this industry used to make combs with their own hands. The special thing about these combs was that mustard oil was added into them. Reportedly, the industry was started in 1895 by Fazal Ahmed, a local tradesman along with his father.
They also made the tools that were used to make these combs with their own hands. The comb was made using a special type of wood (Kahu) which was brought by the train from Bannu and Karak, areas of Peshawar that landed at the railway station Quaidabad (Prana Nanam Qaila) and from there it was loaded on camels and brought to Noorpur Thal. At least ten to twelve people from almost every household worked all day to make these combs.
After working all day, the wages for 50 to 60 combs made were Rs1.5 to Rs2 from which all these people could easily meet their needs and save some money. Ahmed, an artisan associated with the industry, said these combs were made and packed in wooden boxes and sent to different parts of the subcontinent and in those days the price of a comb was two to four pennies.
“The decline of the industry began when plastic products started selling in Pakistan,” he said. “The second reason for the decline was that timber from Peshawar was banned under the former president Ayub Khan due to which the industry gradually fell,” Ahmed added.
Ahmed maintained that people from all over Pakistan still come here and demand it but now it has become impossible to make it.
Published in The Express Tribune, Septe0mber 28th, 2020.