Last evening, as I was watching the PBS special “Faces of America with Henry Louis Gates, Jr.” on the genealogy of several famous personalities, I began pondering my own lineage going back several generations.  As it was noted on the special, that I am (we are) a direct descendant of hundreds of thousands; nay, millions of ancestors.

NBC will host a series along the same lines commencing this week called “Who Do You Think You Are?“.

How does this relate to Halloween?

Halloween is only 239 days away and it’s time to start thinking about what you are going to wear to your annual Halloween party this season.  Where will your ideas come from this year?  Or will you be content to wear the same old Sexy Witch  or  Gorilla costume as you did last year?

As I costumer, and to somewhat prepare for the next Halloween season,  I always looked at new (in the year) TV shows, movies, politics  and other lifestyle trends to see what might be popular later in the year. This year the above mentioned shows might be the stimulus for new Hall

oween costume ideas.

We ar

e but composites of hundreds of t

housands; nay, millions of ancestors.  As we go back many generations, each one had a tale to tell.  Wow!  That certainly opens up the possibilities for Halloween costumes for this October.

Hmmm….where did I come from…..who were my ancestors?  Can I dress like one of my ancestors this Halloween.  Am I from European ancestry, or African or Asian?  Or a blend? 

A native of Germany, my great  grandfather was a bootlegger during Prohibition selling an illegal potent potable (bathtub gin, I would assume)  to local hotels.  He was also in the military in the post Civil War era.  For Halloween, I could dress in a gangster suit, or an Army uniform of the period?  Maybe lederhosen to reflect his country of origin ?   And he is just one person in my upline (that sounds like a multi level marketing term, doesn’t it?).  The possibilities are nearly endless. 

A little research (which will be informative, if not rewarding) is the starting point on this.  So talk to a parent or an older relative and see where it goes from there.

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Although we’ve focused on Santa costumes and Santa beards and wigs over the past few weeks, and will begin to discuss some of the Santa accessories etc. over the next few weeks; today we discuss Santa masks.

We never carried Santa masks when we had a brick and mortar business although the qualities of some of the masks were absolutely great.

As great as they were, they were expressionless, unless of course you consider one permanent expression as an expression.  Even the youngest of children will recognize that a mask is not a face, even though they may not even know what a mask is.

Little of Santa’s face is seen behind a wig and beard, but his eyes are fully visible (not partially blocked off by the latex mask).  The wrinkle in his brow, or the glimpse of his lips add to the ‘realism’.  Masks simply don’t convey the same message.

If you can’t fool the child one year, you may have lost him him/her for the next several.

Once I said, if you have limited funds, buy the best wig and beard you can afford, and the least expensive suit.  

Likewise, if you have limited funds, but the least expensive wig and beard; and don’t waste a dime no matter how good the Santa mask may seem.

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