Bandoline

Bandoline is used by ladies, and by hairdressers for stiffening the hair, and to make it curl firmly and remain in place. It is applied either by moistening the fingers and passing the hair through them, or by means of a small sponge.
--A Cyclopedia of Practical Receipts (3rd ed. 1856, London)

Bandoline (fixature, clysphitique, eau collante): Victorian setting solution.  Most of the recipes I've found describe boiling quince seeds in water.  A Cyclopedia of Practical Receipts includes a few different versions.

The first one I've tried uses 1.2 oz of gum arabic dissolved in 3 oz of water and 2 oz of rosewater. I tried it on a half scale. Its very easy, you just need to give the gum arabic a day or two to fully dissolve.

Combined the ingredients, shook, and set aside.

Two days later, all of the resin has dissolved.

The bandoline is a bit sticky, causing the lid to adhere somewhat to the jar. To apply, I dabbed it on my fingers and swiped it through my hair. It dries very quickly, and has a nice hold. I didn't notice any of the the "gummy"-ness I've read about, though that may be a reference to the materials rather than a description of the final product. 

When I tried putting my hair up in curlers, I found that I need to dampen each proto-curl immediately before twisting it up--if you try to do two at once, the second will dry before you can set it. Thus, this makes a fast alternative to setting curls wet and waiting hours for them to dry.

The curls also tend to stay better that water-damped curls, and don't brush out so easily. At the same time, I was impressed as how natural the curls felt: they weren't crunchy and hard like the mousse-held curls of my '90s childhood.

Unfortunately, my rag-curler technique is still really sloppy. I need to start doing more early 19th century styles for the curl practice.

The bandoline-assisted curls dried instantly,
the water-set ones needed a long time to dry.