Disneyland may be the Happiest Place on Earth, but don’t think that means you can just waltz in and do whatever you want. Here are just a few of the things on which Mickey Mouse has dropped his hammer over the years.]]>
by Alvin Ward

Disneyland may be the Happiest Place on Earth, but don’t think that means you can just waltz in and do whatever you want. In fact, Mickey Mouse’s theme parks have banned quite a few things over the years. Here are just a few of the things on which the Mouse has dropped his hammer.

1. Long Hair

Until the late 1960s, men could either have flowing locks or enjoy Adventureland, but they definitely couldn’t do both. According to Snopes, if a long-haired fellow tried to buy a ticket, a cast member would discreetly and politely inform the man that his hairdo didn’t jive with the park’s unwritten dress code before escorting him from the park.

2. Facial Hair

It’s tough to find a picture of Walt Disney without a mustache, but for decades it was even tougher to find a Disney employee who had a ‘stache of his own. Starting in 1957, workers at Disney parks were not allowed to have long hair, grow beards, or wear mustaches. (The underlying logic was that park patrons wouldn’t want to buy a $9 soda from some filthy bearded hippie or mustachioed Snidely Whiplash type.)

In 2000, Disney was having trouble drumming up enough manpower to staff its parks, so it relaxed the facial hair ban. Employees were finally allowed to grow mustaches, provided they kept them trimmed and groomed. Beards didn’t fare so well, though; they stayed on the forbidden list.

3. Blake Lively

How could anyone not like the cute-as-a-button star of Gossip Girl? Disneyland apparently wasn’t always amused with Lively’s pre-fame antics. According to Lively, when she was six, she and her older brother used the old put-hairspray-on-a-friend’s-readmission-hand-stamp-to-transfer-the-stamp-to-their-own-skin trick. It would have been the perfect crime, except security nabbed the Lively kids right as they went through the park’s turnstiles and slapped the pair with a one-year ban.

4. Florida State Football Recruits

In June 2007, four Florida State football recruits met up for a little bit of fun. Instead of engaging in any of the myriad nefarious acts a group of 18-year-old males are known to favor, the players decided to go to Disney World, which seemed like the very last place in the world they could get into any trouble. Wrong. Park officials approached the men, all of whom were African-American, while they hung out in Downtown Disney and ejected them from the park for violating its anti-loitering rules. Security also hit the players with a lifetime ban from the park in a move that many Disney critics claimed smacked of racial profiling.

5. Costumes

You may want to dress up like Jack Sparrow for a day of riding Pirates of the Caribbean, but if you’re older than nine, forget it. Disney bans any costumes and masks on anyone who’s ten or older. Also listed on Disney’s park dress code: “Makeup that could be construed as part of a costume.” So go easy on the eye shadow—the fashion police might decide you’re shooting for a 19th-century harlot look and give you the heave-ho.

Similarly, the dress code bans “clothing that accentuates or draws attention to private areas,” a well meaning, if oddly phrased, choice. Here’s hoping Disney starts handing out unisex burlap smocks at the park gates to avoid any potentially accentuated private areas. [Image courtesy of reader Christopher Schwarz.]

6. Gallows

In early 2008, upstart English punk band Gallows was all set to open for Social Distortion at a gig at the House of Blues at Disneyland. The bill seemed like a good way to get exposure for a band that was starting to catch on stateside—or it did until Disney officials actually stopped to listen to Gallows’ debut record, Orchestra of Wolves. Once Disney brass heard Gallows’ tunes, they nixed the show due to the band’s occasionally offensive lyrical content.

While it seems odd to get upset at a punk band for being abrasive, Disney’s move wasn’t unprecedented. Just a few months earlier, the company had banned the metal band Machine Head from performing at the House of Blues for similar reasons.

7. Kids

Kids banned by Disney? You bet. In January 2008, Disney announced that children under the age of 10 would no longer be allowed to dine at Victoria & Albert’s, the ritziest restaurant at Disney World’s Grand Floridian Spa and Resort. The move made news, but Disney officials claimed that the AAA five-diamond-rated restaurant didn’t attract that many children in the first place. In addition to being pricey, Victoria & Albert’s only offered a fixed-price menu with kid-unfriendly offerings like caviar, so the restaurant only catered to a handful of young diners each year.

8. Segways

GOB Bluth is going to be in quite a bind if he ever tries to ride his Segway into Disneyland. The company bans Segways from its parks, ostensibly because it’s tough to balance safety issues with the potential for having a fleet of two-wheeled vehicles rolling around the grounds.

The trouble here, though, is that a lot of disabled people use Segways in lieu of wheelchairs. These folks were understandably peeved that they couldn’t visit the parks using their preferred mode of transportation, and several of them filed lawsuits. So far it’s been tough for the Segway riders to get Disney to budge; earlier this fall, a federal judge threw out a class action lawsuit brought against Disney by Segway devotees. The ruling left an opening for further legal action, though, so this court battle may not be over yet.

Readers have brought up two other things that might not be welcome in Disney parks: Nikita Khrushchev and bubble gum. Alvin has added those stories…

Nikita Khrushchev?

Disneyland as a battleground for the Cold War? Believe it or not, that’s exactly what it became in 1959. That year, Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev spent 11 days visiting the United States. He spent one day of the trip in Los Angeles, and the fierce orator wanted to see Disneyland. However, the LAPD and the rest of Khrushchev’s security detail were worried about his safety during such a trip, so they nixed the idea.

Khrushchev accepted the news with characteristic poise, which is to say he exploded. He ranted, “And I say, I would very much like to go and see Disneyland. But then, we cannot guarantee your security, they say. Then what must I do? Commit suicide? What is it? Is there an epidemic of cholera there or something? Or have gangsters taken hold of the place that can destroy me?”

Gum?

Want to chomp on some gum while you’re standing in line at a Disney park? You’ll have to bring it with you from home. In an effort to keep chewed gum from being stuck all over the parks, none of the shops in any Disney theme park sells gum. Supposedly this innovation came from Walt Disney himself, who wanted to make sure that his guests could enjoy their visits without getting gum stuck to their shoes.

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These days, nothing can be more routine for a man than shaving. If we fear anything about the process, it's that we'll nick ourselves or end up with severe razor burn. But it wasn't always so.]]> by Brett & Kate McKay

These days, nothing can be more routine for a man than shaving. We hardly give a second thought to scraping a razor against our skin each morning. If we fear anything about the process, it’s that we’ll nick ourselves or end up with severe razor burn.

But it wasn’t always so.

Shaving was once a dangerous and sometimes lethal endeavor. Before the advent of safety razors and sanitation laws, a man risked his life when he decided to clean up with a close shave. Here are three stories of men who met their end in pursuit of a baby smooth face.

Michael F. Farley, 1921

Michael F. Farley immigrated to the United States from Ireland in 1881 when he was 18 years old. He ran a successful liquor business in New York and was elected to Congress in 1915. But Mr. Farley’s Horatio Alger story was cut short after a visit to the barbershop. Little did Mr. Farley know that the badger brush the barber was using to create that nice luxurious lather on his face was contaminated with – I kid you not- anthrax. Farley was infected with the virus and died a few days later. Who knew a barber brush could be a weapon of mass destruction?

John Henry Taylor, 1911

John Henry Taylor was a friendly horticulturalist who decided to take a trip on a Red Line cruise ship back in 1911. In between matches of shuffle board, Mr. Taylor felt his beard was getting a little rough and decided to visit the on-board barber. The waves must have been pretty rough that day because the barber gave ol’ John Henry a little nick on the neck. Because small cuts are par for the course when getting a shave, John Henry didn’t think much of it and returned to his cabin. But later that night, his throat began to swell up and fill with fluid. The ship doctor said it was just a case of blood poisoning and told Taylor that it would soon heal itself. Two days later the swelling increased, and Taylor could no longer speak. A week after the initial cut, John Henry Taylor suffocated and died from severe edema.

John Thoreau, 1841

John Thoreau was the brother of famous American writer and Transcendentalist, Henry David Thoreau. In the winter of 1841, while taking part in his daily shave, John Thoreau cut himself with his razor. A few days later he came down with lockjaw and died in Henry David’s arms. His brother’s death devastated Thoreau. He didn’t talk to his family or write in his journal for weeks.

Thoreau’s good friend, Ralph Waldo Emerson, suggested that he go spend some time out in the woods alone near a pond called Walden. Thoreau took this sage advice, and one of America’s greatest essays was born. All thanks to shaving.

Brett McKay runs The Art of Manliness with his wonderful wife Kate. You can learn how to get a close shave without killing yourself in their new book, The Art of Manliness: Classic Skills and Manner for the Modern Man.

Love getting your hair cut, but feel guilty about the mess you leave on the floor? From clothing the world to creating great art, here are 10 ideas for your next trip to SuperCuts. ]]> Ed. Note: Todays’ guest blog star (and our good friend) Dr. Michael Reed knows hair care. The Manhattan-based dermatologist and hair loss expert has devoted his life to helping folks keep the locks on their heads. He’s even got a new book out on the topic: Women’s Hair Loss: The Hidden Epidemic. Today, Dr. Mike’s taking us through the ten craziest uses for discarded locks.

1. Make History! (or at least a weird representation of it)

Earlier this year Beijing hairdresser Huang Xin celebrated the 60th anniversary of Communist China’s founding with a replica of the buildings and monuments around Tiananmen Square – all made entirely of human hair.

2. Stop an Oil Spill!

Hairdresser (and hair enthusiast) Phil McCrory was watching CNN coverage on the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill when he noticed the fur on the Alaskan otters soaked with oil. He began testing how much oil he could collect with the hair clippings from his salon and invented the Hair Mat which helped contain an oil spill off the coast of San Francisco in 2007.

3. Clothe the World (or at least a model)

Croatian designers at Artidjana Company used 165 feet of blond hair to make a dress worn by model Simona Gotovac. The outfit was featured at a fashion show in Zagreb. But Artidjiana isn’t the only one. Julia Reindell one upped the designers by creating an entire fashion line made from human hair for an awards show at the Royal Academy of Art in Piccadilly.

4. Build a Sturdy Chair

Former hairstylist-to-the-stars Ronald Thompson was cleaning hair clippings on the set of Batman Begins when he realized how sturdy a piece of hair was as opposed to fiberglass. He decided to create an eco-friendly alternative to traditional fiberglass molds and designed the stiletto chair made entirely of human hair.

5. Use It on the Vegetable Garden

Calling all gardeners! Need a mulching source that is renewable? Human hair makes an excellent garden mulch. In fact, Phil McCrory (of oil spill clean-up fame—what can I say, the guy loves old hair) also patented a hair mat to be used as garden mulch.

6. Hang it from Your Walls

In 2006 Dartmouth College commissioned Chinese artist Wenda Gu to display monument-sized banners woven entirely out of student’s hair. To line their walls, the school held a hair-drive and sent 300 pounds worth of New Hampshire hair to China.

7. Donate It To Your Fan Club

Elvis Presley shaved his manly mane when he went into the service in 1958. More than five decades later those shorn locks showed up for auction to the highest bidder at Leslie Hindman Auctioneers in Chicago. The hair was apparently a gift from Presley himself to the President of his fan club, Gary Pepper.

8. Turn It Into Jewelry

During Victorian times preserving a lock of a loved one’s hair as jewelry was all the rage. A lock of hair was immortalized in a pendant and worn as a necklace or a brooch. Although this practice went out of popular fashion at the turn of the Century, some artists continue to devote their lives to hair jewelry today.

9. Donate It to a Museum…

If you’re driving through Independence Missouri any time soon you may want to stop by Leila’s Hair Museum. The walls at Leila’s are adorned with artwork featuring human hair with over 400 antique hair wreaths, hatpins, necklaces, bracelets, broaches and rings all made with human hair. Additionally, Leila claims to have hair from Marilyn Monroe, Elvis Presley, George Washington, Aaron Burr, JFK and John Lennon.

10. Or Simply Steal It for your Personal Collection

In 2007 an Australian baggage courier was jailed by a Melbourne judge for stealing women’s hair from their suitcases. Rodney Lyle Petersen pleaded guilty to 50 counts of theft of women’s hair that he collected from the baggage of Qantas passengers. Petersen would apparently pull over in his courier van and rummage through the lost or delayed luggage that he was returning to Qantas passengers. He collected hair from brushes in the suitcases and put them in plastic baggies.

Be sure to check out Dr. Reed’s new book: Women’s Hair Loss: The Hidden Epidemic published by luxury hair care supplier Lock & Mane. Click here to order, or follow the banner link below.

It's estimated that 10% of living Europeans were conceived on an IKEA-produced bed. It's time you learned a little more about the company and its continuing quest to install flat pack, streamlined fixtures across the seven continents.]]> by Mac Carey

So, just how popular is IKEA? It’s estimated that 10% of living Europeans were conceived on an IKEA-produced bed. It’s time you learned a little more about the company, its reclusive owner Ingvar Kamprad (who may or may not be worth more than Bill Gates), and his continuing quest to install flat pack, streamlined fixtures across the seven continents.

1. It All Started With a Car

The inspiration for IKEA’s design philosophy came when taking the legs off of a chair to fit it into a car. IKEA founder Ingvar Kamprad was so irritated by the experience that he developed the concept of flat pack design. The novel packing method had a twofold appeal: it allowed easier shopping for urban Europeans who depended on public transportation, and it also lowered the company’s shipping costs dramatically. But the store wasn’t an immediate success. IKEA floundered in Sweden for thirty years (THIRTY YEARS!) before finding an international audience.

2. The Company Had Some Dark Secrets

While we’ve written about IKEA cloaking itself as a charitable institution, that isn’t the blue and yellow über-store’s only dirty secret. While Kamprad today is known as a frugal billionaire who drives a ‘93 Volvo, eats at middle-class restaurants, and outfits his home entirely in affordable IKEA products, his legacy is tainted by his past involvement with pro-Nazi organizations. Between 1942 and 1945, Kamprad joined, fund-raised, and recruited members for a fascist, Nazi-sympathizing group in Sweden. The news only came out in 1994, when his personal correspondence with fascist Per Engdahl was released to the public. Kamprad immediately apologized for his involvement and claimed it was the biggest regret of his young life. He also wrote to every Jewish employee on his staff to issue a personal apology.

Of course, none of this stopped the information from being a point of controversy when the store first arrived in Israel, but the world seems to have forgiven him. Today IKEA is one of the only international companies to spread to both Israel and Arab countries. In fact, the store is so popular in the Middle East that three people were trampled to death at the store’s 2004 grand opening in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

3. The Dining Tables Were Too Small for a Turkey

The beginnings of IKEA in America were inauspicious, with European compact efficiency conflicting with America’s “bigger is better” creed. In the 1980s, for example, many customers bought vases, mistaking them for water glasses. They were also wary of a dining room table that couldn’t hold the girth of a full size Thanksgiving turkey. IKEA’s designers only changed their mindset in how they approached American design after the head of US operations made a stunt of it: He handed out t-shirts to Swedish designers that declared “size matters.” They apparently got the message.

4. The IKEA Catalogue Is Bigger Than the Bible

The IKEA catalogue was and is the company’s greatest weapon in its arsenal. A 300-page missionary text, it goes out to over 180 million people in 27 different languages. Each year, there are more copies of the IKEA catalogue printed than the Bible. A bit of a cult following has also developed around the catalogues, with earnest readers on the lookout for hidden messages in the pictures, such as running references to Mickey Mouse and weird, obscure books on the bookshelves.

5. It’s a Hipster Hangout

Despite early stumbles in America, twenty years later, the store has so ingrained itself into our society that a trend amongst urban hipsters is to host dinner parties at the stores. A meal of lingonberry jam and meatballs at the cafeteria for the host and guests, and the living room displays make perfect venues for a round of Taboo and Pictionary. A blog posting chronicling the first party in Sacramento led to a string of copycats across the country. So far, IKEA management doesn’t seem to be complaining.

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