Before the likes of Jen Atkin, Kristin Ess, Oribe, and Chris McMillan, there was Margaret Vinci Heldt, a Chicago-based celebrity hairstylist who came to local prominence in the 1950s.

She Created the beehive in 1960, which would become one of the most identifiable and significant hairstyles of the 20th century.

Heldt died last Friday at age 98, according to the New York Times, and her enduring legacy is the much backcombed and hair-sprayed style that's still worn by celebrities today.

Here are some fascinating tidbits about Heldt and her famous beehive.

1. She developed the hairstyle in 1960 for Modern Beauty Shop magazine, which is now called Modern Salon.

"They called me and they said, 'Margaret, hairstyling has gone dead, there's nothing exciting,'" she told Modern Salon in 2014.

“‘We have the pageboy, the flip, the upsweep like the French twist, but nothing is happening around the top of the head.’...

I'll get out of the box and see what I can do."


2. Heldt wanted to create a hairstyle that could live under a specific fez hat that she loved.

"I always would look at that little hat and say, 'Someday, I'm going to create a hairstyle that would fit under the hat, and when you take the hat off, the hairstyle would be there.

'" The hat came with a little pin that looked like a bee; Heldt put that in the model's hair at the Modern Beauty Shop photo shoot featuring the style, and an editor said, "It looks just like a beehive!"