In American hairdo lore, there are a few that stand alone, monuments of lush or poof, singular members of a pantheon that prides itself on the stunning, startling or jocular nature of the mane.

There’s “The Rachel” (Jennifer Aniston). There’s Princess Leia. There’s Einstein. There’s Elvis and his greasy pompadour. There’s Marge Simpson and her glorious cobalt hive. There’s Cher’s long straight flow. There’s the dude from Kid ‘n’ Play and … there’s Bob Ross.

Bob, the retired United States Air Force master sergeant, had a secret though, and a curious origin story to his beloved coiffure.

One, he actually didn’t have curly hair at all and, two, he conjured up the style in an attempt to save his hard-earned money — way before he became a television bigwig.

This from Esquire:

According to his longtime business partner, Annette Kowalski, the perm came into being during Ross’ early years as a struggling painter. When he got out of the Air Force, “he got this bright idea that he could save money on haircuts,” Kowalski told NPR. “So he let his hair grow, he got a perm, and decided he would never need a haircut again.”

But there was a catch: By the time he’d gotten enough money to change his hairstyle, the curly look had become his signature. He was stuck with it.

“He could never, ever, ever change his hair, and he was so mad about that,” says Kowalski. The burden of success. Although, since Ross and his ‘fro eventually appeared in over 400 episodes of his show Joy of Painting, making him a much-loved icon in the process, hopefully he wasn’t too bummed out about it.

Listen, if ever you find yourself struggling to get some zzz’s — it’s the middle of the night and you’re stressing because you’re well on your way to NOT getting those desirable seven to eight hours — grab your phone or your tablet or your laptop and fire up this YouTube channel. Open it up, select a video and forget it. Let the quiet and gentle charm of a U.S. military veteran with a paintbrush, a solid black background set and a soothing whispering cadence send you off to dreamy zip code, where Michael Jordan and Marcia Brady are your friends, and they’re patiently waiting for you to take your seat at the olde wicker table in the garden, so you all can enjoy the tea together.