If you’re a Disney park guest, you’ve seen hundreds (perhaps thousands) of them – the most quintessential of all Disney souvenirs – the Mickey Mouse Ear Hat.  What about a Mickey Mouse t-shirt?  Or a Mickey watch?  You can buy those everywhere in stores around the world.  The Ear Hat?  Only at a Disney store.

When did it begin?  How long have Americans been sporting these rodent-eared beanies?  Oh, I’m so glad you asked!  Mouseketeers wore them first.  Back on the 1950’s television series The Mickey Mouse Club, an original adult Mouseketeer named Roy Williams invented the unique headwear that became a staple of the Mouseke-uniform.  It’s said he was inspired by an early Mickey Mouse short in which Mickey tips his ears to Minnie.  Once the American television watching public fell in love with The Mickey Mouse Club and the Mouseketeers, everyone wanted an Ear Hat.  More than half-a-century later, this wearable evidence of our love for Mickey Mouse endures.  For many Americans, the first pair of Mickey Ears is an important childhood milestone.

For $13.95, Disney shoppers can purchase the classic black Ear Hat in sizes ranging from baby  to adult.  Made of felt and plastic, with a red Mickey Mouse patch on the front – having one’s name embroidered on the back of the hat is optional (and adds to the price) – the hat’s simple design makes it a lightweight and comfortable accessory – even if it doesn’t offer much protection from the elements.  The classic look not your style?  Ear Hats are available in a staggering number of styles, colors, and themes – there’s an Ear Hat for everyone.

On Main Street USA in Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom is a store called Le Chapeau.  Of all the places Ear Hats can be purchased in Disney parks – Le Chapeau is my favorite.  The store’s location seems to make it more magical.  When our son, Joseph, got his very first Ear Hat, it was from Le Chapeau.  Soon, I’ll be headed back to Walt Disney World and am determined to buy my own Ear Hat – my first – at Le Chapeau.  I’m pretty sure I’ll be choosing a style other than the classic black – not sure what it’ll be, but the possibilities are virtually endless and I’m sure I’ll find a hat that’s perfect for me.

Do you have a Mickey Mouse Ear Hat?  I’d love to hear about it!  Better yet – head on over to Living a Disney Life’s Facebook page and share a picture.

If you’ve never laid eyes on Disney A to Z: The Official Encyclopedia, I’ll understand you most likely don’t know what you’re missing.  So, I’m here today to set you straight.  You’re missing a lot!  This absolute treasure written by THE Dave Smith (founder and former chief archivist at the Walt Disney Archives) will delight you with every turn of the page. It’s a must-have resource for every Disney-loving family.

Let me explain:

The book is simply a gigantic index of all things Disney.  Don’t let that simplicity or its size (760 pages in my edition before the bibliography) put you off.  Don’t worry about the lack of pictures (there are a few, mostly black and white) – I’m telling you, this book is absolutely wonderful.  One glance within its plentiful pages will uncover Disney memories you didn’t even know you had!  It’s true.  Before I give you a couple of examples, let me point out a couple of super cool things.  Page 441: a list of the 120 Mickey Mouse cartoons!  Pages 3-7: a list of Disney’s 86 Academy Awards (as of 2005 in my edition).  Movies, rides and attractions, voice actors, comic books, characters – you name it, it’s all here.

What’s fun for me is to peruse the pages and, as I mentioned, find things I remember from early childhood and realize that I didn’t even know these were Disney memories.  For example:  My dad brought home a Siamese cat once and I lobbied to name him Lambert because I had seen a cartoon about a lion named Lambert who slept in the same position as our new pet.  Looking through Disney A to Z and I find (page 387)…”Lambert, the Sheepish Lion (film) Special cartoon; released on February 8, 1952.  Directed by Jack Hannah.  A stork delivers a lion cub to a flock of sheep by mistake, which eventually proves fortuitous for the sheep when Lambert grows up to realize his power and uses it to protect the sheep from a wolf.  Nominated for an Academy Award.”  See?  Happy childhood memory and I didn’t even know it was a Disney memory!  Oh, and Lambert was the best cat EVER!  Could open doors and neat stuff like that.

One last example for you “mature” readers like me.  Listen up kids.  Way back when I was in school (to which I walked five miles uphill, both directions) – right after dinosaurs went extinct, there was a very special treat for our class from time to time.  The teacher would roll out the film projector and unroll the movie screen – this was cause for much happiness and celebration!  We would get to watch a movie in class!!!  Usually, it was at least semi-educational, but always better than listening to whatever the teacher would have had to say that day.  Film reels in place, the projector running (oh, the quick tempo of that film rolling through the projector was such a joyous sound) and wonderful stories like Johnny Tremain – Yep, found him on page 363 – if you ever get a chance to see this 1957 gem set during the Revolutionary War, do not pass it up.  Or Paul Bunyan (1958), who provided an important lesson on American folk-lore, I’m sure, but Babe the Blue Ox stole the show.  Paul’s on page 523 and Babe on 48.

Okay – you get it now, right?  This book is beyond awesome!  Need one?  Check it out at Amazon right here.

Do you have Dave Smith’s book?  What’s your favorite Disney resource?