Dumb Blond

[Subdeacon Joe]

This Day in History:
 An unexpected WWII heroine :
 During this week in 1907, an American heroine is born. Why, exactly, did Mary Babnik Brown become a hero? The details are uncertain, but one basic fact is undisputed: Mary got a haircut—and it helped our country during World War II.
Was Mary’s hair used to create crosshairs for Norden bombsights? Or was it simply used for meteorological instruments?
Mary was living in Pueblo, Colorado, during the opening months of World War II. One day, she saw an advertisement in a local newspaper: The government needed hair—but not just any hair. It needed hair that was at least “22” long, blonde, and has never been treated with chemicals or hot irons.”
Mary’s hair satisfied all these criteria. She’d been carefully caring for her knee-length hair for decades, washing it with pure soap a few times a week.
In the end, she donated 34 inches of hair.
Reportedly, the loss of her hair was so devastating that she mourned its loss for two months. Yet she felt that she’d done her duty, and she refused to accept the War Savings Stamps that the government offered her.

 

 

[Imis Twohofon,SASS # 46646]

Thank you, Mary

 

Imis

[Nostrum Damus SASS #110702]

OK, not quite as patriotic, but about 15 years ago I was a guy who wore my hair very long.  An organization called Locks For Love sought donations of hair that was at least 12" long and that had never been dyed or treated with chemicals, for use in making wigs for (mostly female) chemotherapy patients who had lost their hair.  My hair qualified, and was a renewable resource, so as a tribute to a friend who had lost her hair in those circumstances, I decided to let it grow and grow and grow until the hair on the front half of my head was at least 12" long, and the hair in the back was much, much longer.  At first it made a man-bun, but pretty soon it made a great ponytail.  After about 18 months, I then suffered a major set of injuries in a disastrous fall down a flight of stairs, for which I was going to have a significant part of my upper body shaved before major surgery.  Having very long hair and not being able to take a shower for at least a month after the surgery was not going to work out well.  I then discovered another organization called St. Baldrick's that would shave your head clean at a fundraising event to honor children who had lost their hair in chemotherapy.  So we made it a double fundraising celebration a few days before my scheduled surgery: first, the folks at a St. Baldrick's fundraising event cut off all of my hair and prepared it for sending to Locks For Love according to that organization's instructions, and then the St. Baldrick's barber shaved my head clean.  The whole thing was great fun for a couple of good causes, except for my accident and surgery and very difficult and prolonged recovery and physical rehab therapy.

[Capt. R. Hugh Kidnme]

Mary, Mary not so contrary

For letting her golden locks grow,

For the Axis team, she seemed scary

When they were used to drop bombs below.