Cookie Cutters Hair

Mercer Museum's new wing a chance to display strange, interesting objects

DOYLESTOWN, Pa. — Building a better mousetrap.

The idea has piqued the imagination of more inventors than any other device.

“More patents have been entered for mouse traps than any other object,” said Cory Amsler, vice president of collections and interpretations for the Mercer Museum here.

And the quirky six-story museum that showcases the 30,000 objects that Henry Mercer collected — from hand tools to a whale boat — to preserve how Americans survived daily life before the Industrial Revolution is one of the few places that will showcase the mousetrap.

Not any mouse trap.

There is the guillotine trap — perfect for a museum that has the human version in its collection.

How about the drowning type?

Here a rodent slides down a tube, not realizing it is filled with water.

Goodbye mouse.

A sampling of mousetraps are part of “The Mercer Museum A-Z,” open in the museum’s new 13,000-square-foot wing.

The $12.5 million wing features a changing exhibit gallery, and educational space.

Since the main 1916 museum was built in an era where air conditioning had yet to be invented, the changing gallery space will allow the Mercer staff to bring out objects — paintings and textiles for example — where temperature control is vital.

The new digs will also afford Mercer the opportunity to bring in traveling shows — such as “Toy Time” that will debut in December.

Since there was no idea when the addition would be completed, the staff opted for the A-Z showing of the collections of Mercer and the Bucks County Historical Society — owner and operator of the museum.

The pink kitchen taken from one of the original Levittown cookie-cutter homes will remain in storage for now, said Gayle Shupack, the museum’s public relations director.

But, the 175 objects on display in the A-Z show vary from the original cement mixer Mercer and his staff used to build the museum, a ’50s refrigerator, a sampling of the quilts the society owns, toys that struck Mercer’s fancy and an assortment of objects that touched on various parts of life and history in Bucks County.

“We can revisit Mercer’s story in a very fresh and new way,” Amsler offered. For frequent museum patrons, it’s a new look on some very familiar material.

Cookie Cutters: Hair cuts for kids | Cleveland, OH articles ...

, And chairs that are shaped like cars, horses or even airplanes? At Cookie Cutters in Strongsville, kids will be so busy having fun that they likely won't even notice that they're getting their hair cut!

Step into Cookie Cutters, which is located on Pearl Road just east of SouthPark Mall, and you'll find a whole new type of styling salon: one that's geared to please even the youngest of clients. With brightly-colored walls, the promise of candy and balloons after a haircut, and the ability for the kids to pick out their favorite animated movie to watch as they get their locks trimmed, there is certainly no better place than Cookie Cutters for picky kids.

Come into Cookie Cutters on a Monday and get a kids cut for just $10 -- that's a discount of $5.95 off the regular price of $15.95. Let your little one pick out his/her favorite chair and movie, and while they sit back and relax, one of Cookie Cutters' skilled stylists will make a masterpiece out of even the most unruly of hair.

When your children are done, they'll get to pick out a piece of candy and their favorite color of balloon to take home with them. Meanwhile, you'll save yourself a big headache that would have otherwise come from a lot of whining and crying that may have occurred if you didn't take them to kid-friendly Cookie Cutters.

HelloMetro Tip: For more information on Cookie Cutters, LeeAnn Mullen is a freelance journalist from Cleveland, Ohio. She holds a bachelor's degree in journalism is currently furthering her education by studying for an additional degree in information systems management. Mullen has written for several Cleveland-area newspapers, online publications and dozens of private clients. Her topics of specialty include health, technology and travel.