[jurroppi1]

I thought the proper spelling for it was dew rag (dew being sweat), but then kept seeing it spelled as dorag or do-rag (as in hairdo rag), which makes more sense because they are not always worn just for catching sweat. Dorag always bothered me though, it just looks weird. There are multiple alternates:

Numerous alternative spellings exist for durag, including do-rag, dew-rag, and doo-rag, all of which may be spelled with a space instead of a hyphen, or with neither a hyphen nor a space. The simplest etymology for do-rag is that it is named as such because it is a rag worn to protect one's hairdo. An alternative etymology claims that name should be spelled dew-rag, and dew is a euphemism for sweat.[3]

Early usage The Oxford English Dictionary dates the first published usage of "do-rag" to the 1964 Facing Reality pamphlet Negro Americans take the Lead,[4] written by Martin Glaberman. The pamphlet noted that in the wake of the 1963 Detroit Walk to Freedom, "the leading local newspaper announced it would feature a one-a-week column by a prominent local Negro. Trying to be a laborer worthy of his hire, the prominent local figure wrote a column denouncing 'do-rags.' The common habit of wearing a silk stocking over the head, presumably to protect the setting, aroused his ire."[5]

Other early published usages include:

In the August 27, 1965, edition of LIFE magazine, a page 22 photo caption describes a man wearing a "'do-rag' on his new hair-do".[6]

On June 4, 1966, the Akron Beacon Journal printed "do rag ... a cloth band worn around the forehead as a sweatband or to keep hair in place".[7]

On September 2, 1966, the Dayton Daily News printed "the man with the black dew rag... one with the black bandana".[8]

In late 1966, "do rag ... processed hair done up in black rags" appeared in Newsweek.

The Merriam-Webster online dictionary places the earliest usage of do-rag in 1968.[1]

[lee martell]

It’s a slang term, one usually spoken and not often referred to in writing. The do rag comes from a time where a dressed up black man would get his hair ‘processed’, meaning curled with pomade hair gel (petroleum jelly) and a hot iron.
The ‘rag’ would be any cloth used to cover the hair as it dried out or as the styling set in place.

One would usually pull that cloth cap off, once the styled curls were now set in place. Similar to women wearing those big curlers. They would be expected to take the curlers out before going out in public.

Some people would rather not even bother trying to comb out or style their hair, so they simply keep the head covered. Others may use a cornrow hair style for the same reasons: “Set it, then forget it”. Some will use a Ball Cap for same purpose.