Long Manes & Candy Canes in Photos

In Celebrate by El Rubio17 Comments

It Was A Swanky Holiday Mixer

We had a party, and it was a real bash. Below are some of the best pictures from Long Manes & Candy Canes, but first a quick backstory on this swanky soiree.

The first Long Manes & Candy Canes was on December 12, 2014, billed as a “swanky holiday mixer, studiowarming and The Longhairs premiere,” our official founding date.

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We didn’t have any products, we hadn’t made a dollar, and our concept was entirely unproven. What we did have was an idea we believed in wholeheartedly—and a community of friends, family and associates who believed in us too.

We launched with a website, three blog posts, a funny video and referral cards.

Over the next year we worked on content, social media and product development, until the second Long Manes & Candy Canes in December 2015. We finally launched Hair Ties For Guys, and we made them for sale online for $12 a pack.

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In 2016 we worked out of a garage, in ‘17 we were focused on Shark Tank, and in ‘18 we were desperately preparing for The Great Cut. In 2019 we were still exhausted from The Great Cut, 2020 was 2020, and we completely forgot what happened in 2021.

The point is we’ve pushed it off for years, because it takes time and money and energy and pulls resources away from other important things. But these things are important, because a business is about more than sales and revenue. It’s about character and culture, community and camaraderie.

With 2022 having been the hardest year in the history of The Longhairs, it would have been easy to skip it again…but something told us we had to bring it back this year.

That something was the sixth and last of our core values:

Building and influencing community from San Diego outward.

The party wasn’t something we had to do. It would have been a lot easier not to do it. In the words of Jesse Fanning, founder of Henebery and longtime supporter, “you guys aren’t doing this the easy way.”

It’s true because there is no easy way.

We did it anyway, because while there are many ways to build community, throwing a crackin party is pretty damn effective. And it was crackin, with new and familiar faces, friends and family, longhairs who traveled from afar and guests via livestream.

A big thank you to everyone who came, our bartenders, our sponsors, our team, and to everyone who’s been down since day one.

The Best Pictures from Long Manes & Candy Canes

El Gnarstavo’s computer screen is visible with the names of our LMCC ‘22 sponsors (Henebery and Ballast Point) pulled up in Photoshop.
El Gnarstavo finishing sponsorship posters and table tents.
El Moreno walking behind the bar, making a silly face to the camera, with a pencil in his ear.
El Moreno taking measurements for the new bar trim.
El Sicario hanging a poster with the sponsor names to the right of the bar window.
El Sicario giving our sponsors a prime location next to the bar.
El Garvinski attaching red garland to the bright fluorescent lights above the soon-to-be food tables.
El Garvinksi taking the white, hot light down to a soft, red glow.
El Moreno behind the warehouse cutting the bar’s wood trim down to size with a circular saw.
Measure twice, still cut six or seven times.
El Moreno holding a piece of trim up to the bar window and assessing the fit.
First piece of trim going up. We’d be lying if we said this didn’t take a few tries.
El Sicario looking spooked while he lays out some Christmas lights for our pop-up shop tables.
We don’t recommend sneaking up on El Sicario.
A wide shot of the bar area with artificial green turf covering the floor. Christmas lights strung back and forth above and El Garinksi walking into the frame with electronic equipment in hand.
El Garvinski prepping our remote table for our guests joining from afar.
El Sicario looking spooked while he lays out some Christmas lights for our pop-up shop tables.
Inspector Gus never lets up.
“The Longhairs” written across the top of a pop-up tent and tons of products from The Longhairs are on tables underneath. Christmas lights from top to bottom.
The pop-up shop is DIALED.
El Gnarstavo working on a standup desk in the dark. His face illuminated by his laptop’s screen. Red and blue hues splash across the photo.
El Gnarstavo relegated to a dark recess of the warehouse, still cranking out signage.
A MASSIVE wall in the warehouse covered in crimson, with seven lines of 2-foot-tall painted gold letters spelling out our core values.
Looming large, the Core Values mural by Nick Ponting ready to greet guests on arrival.
Bottles of Henebery whiskey and cans of Ballast Point beer prominently displayed on the bar.
Sponsors coming in CLUTCH!
El Gnarstavo putting a table clotch on a high-top table with one epic sweep.
Gettin’ swanky.
El Gnarstavo cutting and building table tents under the warm light of a Home Depot lamp.
When the winters are as frigid as they are in San Diego we recommend working under work lamps.
El Moreno scrubbing the toilet.
No job too small for El Moreno.
A dashing middle-aged couple standing at the bar, smiling at the camera. Both husband and wife are rocking long hair.
Just look at those smiles!
Cocktail tables bustling with people congregating, chatting and sipping bevvies.
Warming up with some holiday cheer in the early goings.
A dude pulling on his brand new beanie, smiling at the camera.
STOKED on the new soft lid from the pop-up shop.
A cocktail table with people eating around it, all washed in the warm glow from the Christmas light canopy.
The delicious food provided by our delightful neighbors at Mai’s Kitchen lasted about 14 minutes.
Sean Walker looking at the camera with his hat backwards, a mouthful of shrimp and a banh mi sandwich on his plate. STOKED.
Remarkably on-brand for Brother Sean Walker aka Peeps.
Group shot in front of the Christmas lights and bound shears of 17 men and women from the softball team, everyone is dressed up in their festive holiday attire.
Six-time Vavi co-ed softball league champions the BASE KNOCKERS have never missed a Long Manes & Candy Canes.
A woman in a red shawl holding a cocktail standing next to a taller man with a NY Knicks sweater on with his long, natural hair flaring out from under his Knicks hat.
Bursting with Knicks flair and impressive hair.
Left to right: A brunette woman in a santa hat, El Garvinski, a blonde woman in a black sweater adorned by a frog wearing a bow on its head, a man with black hair worn in braids and a red festive sweater.
El Garvinski rubbing elbows with our JACKED P360 crew.
El Sicario, El Moreno, Elefante, El Travieso, El Gnarstavo, El Garvinski, El Rubio, dressed in holiday attire in front of the bound shears, with Christmas tree, lights and gift-wrapped packages surrounding.
The Longhairs In-House Headquarters Staff.
A group shot of four women, all smiles and all wearing sweaters for the holidays.
Dear friends with great hair who FOLLOWED the dress code!
El Rubio in a blue suit and red and white striped tie with a Santa hat, his girlfriend Jess in a dazzling red dress and fancy white coat.
I saw Mommy kissing Santa Claus.
Left to right: A man and three women, NONE wearing Christmas attire. C’MON!
Jubilant party goers who missed the dress code memo.
A mid-30s man with long black hair pulled back in a tale, wearing a big smile and a candy-cane-striped sweater draped over his shoulders. The man next to him has his slightly grey-ing hair down to his shoulders, touching the op of his Home Alone sweater.
Longhairs in their natural environment.
El Rubio, his girlfriend Jess, Steve and Lizzy Cangro dressed in holiday attire in front of the bound shears, with Christmas tree, lights and gift-wrapped packages surrounding.
It’s always merry and bright with the Cangros!
An infiltrating shorthair throwing up a peace sign, El Moreno, a brunette woman in all black standing next to her date, a man in a suit with his long hair flowing.
Four of the last five individuals on the warehouse floor.
Left to right: El Rubio looking absolutely ecstatic to be standing next to our newest warehouse hire, El Travieso.
El Travieso’s first holiday soiree on staff with The Longhairs.
Left to right: A tall brunette woman with blond highlights stands with her arm draped over the shoulder of her brown haired friend.
The festive holiday spirit was palpable.
A top down shot of the warehouse floor, people mingling. A couple in the bottom right corner looking up at the camera and holding out their haul of raffle tickets.
Cheer from above!
El Moreno and El Rubio bantering in front of the crowd with giant bound shears in the background behind them.
Your hosts for this swanky affair!
The entire party is hanging on every word.
When everyone still believes they have a winning ticket.
El Rubio holding a big plastic bin full of tickets with a lighthearted accusatory expression on his face.
Tickets are to be drawn randomly!
El Moreno inspecting a ticket while the potential winner looks on. Other bros in the background.
Verifying. Every. Digit.
A winner embracing El Sicario in an aggressive hug.
Like he won a car!
El Rubio laughing with the winner.
Ya just LOVE to SEE IT!
A winning couple smiling huge and holding their two gallons of shampoo.
A lifetime of shampoo for Mr. and Mrs. Stankiewicz!
10 winners holding up their individual prize packages. Everyone is ECSTATIC.
Winners WIN!
A video of El Rubio standing on the edge of a couch whipping his epic mane.
El Rubio sends everyone off with a final, albeit precarious, hair whip packed with holiday cheer.

Don’t Miss The Next Long Manes & Candy Canes

We can’t promise when it’s gonna be, but we can promise you’ll want to be there. Until that day…

For auld lang syne, my dear
For auld lang syne
We'll drink a cup of kindness yet
For the sake of auld lang syne
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Henebery Spirits
Preserving the 150-year-old history of his great great grandfather, our close friend and San Diego entrepreneur Jesse Fanning has refined the craft of distilling a spirit worth celebrating.
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