The Hazlehurst signal., 1884-03-13
Masks aud Costumes.

and costumes said. "has steadily In.
creased during the past few years. Not
many years ago IL was connc ! In this
country to a few German societies In
large cities and towns. Now, however,
there is scarcely village making any
prctcnsions TO modern social customs
which does not have one or moro
masquerade balls during tho winter
season. The masquerade ball season
begins just after the holidays, and Is
kept up the greater part Of the winter.
'.Wherc do masks come from? A few
are made in this country, but the
largest number arc imported from
France and Germany. The production
Is SO cheap Ia those countries that they
haze practically the monopoly. for even
with duty Of foriy-iiyc per cent. added
nobody in this country has ever been
able successfully To compete with
France and Germany in making masks.
You see. there's no money in them. and
thcS~1oa bc made proliiably only where
lab, f,s very cheap. A tolcrably good
mas. can be bought for one cent. To
bc -nsr. Spectators frequently buy the
pr .vilcyc of selling masks ut balls, and
charge as high Us scyenty-iivc cents for
an ordinary paper mask, but the same
mask could be bought OF u dealer for
twenty-five cents.
1.-The making OF mask il not such n
simple matter as IL seems to be. OF
course the principal things used in its
construction are ordinary paper and n
plaster of Paris or composition mold.
In making hall maskS-that is, masks
which simply cover the facc-thc labor
Is vciy small, compared with the con-
s,ruc'ion Of tho full.hcad masks, which
cover the whole face and head OF the
wcarcr and rest on the shoulders. The
paper l. placed on the mould in layers
until the rc cIuircd thickness is attained.
The mods are made b. class Of
artists who make Il specially OF this
work. They are usually made from
photographs or subjects. many If which
are Indicated by the dealer when he
orders from the manufactures. The
large full-hcad masks rc ,urc series OF
mods. each forming part OF sub.
ject. When all the parts Of mask are
completed. they are all joined together
i'm such u way as To conceal the places
where tho parts are Join d.
.Masks have not changed in general
character for the past iiity years. Each
season the variety il Increased by the
roprosen,ation of some character not
shown before. usually II caricature OF
some promincn, person. or true Ike
ness Of some foreign or American nota-
billty, or some very odd or gro,csque
subject borrowed from the animal
Kingdom. We have mask. represent
ing Pope Leo MIL. Napoleon. Bis
marck, Kaiser Wilhelm, the Crown
Prin @. Bccchcr. Ben Butler, General
Grant, Blaine. Conkling, President Ar
thur. Carl Schurz and others. Among
the newest masks this season arc those
representing John Kelly, Peter Cooper
and Talma %. The general line con-
sis,s of masks representing old women.
younc women. fat babies. the typical
Irish. rutch, Yankee. English. Negro
and Chinese characters, Kings. Queens,
harlequins, clowns, Santa Claus. etc.
Thcn Vc have mass with movable
Jaws. w.nking masks. masks repre-
scnt'ng bears. wolves, monkeys.
eats, dogs, frogs, and almost
every other kind of animal. Many
masks are made 10 order for the wear
ers. 4 large demand for masks arises
from their use for amateur thca,ricai
purpo.cS. Costumes are made up with
them. representing the various charac-
tors il Shakespcarcan and other plays
of n historical ar scrpiurnl character.
We have makc-ups oi Booth. Je.lcr'
son. Raymond. Emmett. Sarah Bern.
harl,. ami other famous actors ana
actresses rs they appear in their re-
slEctiyc masterpieces. Masquerade
costumes vary greatly, according 10 the
tastes Of ca h arIicillar individual nn,l
the prevailing fashion in dress. Frc'
gucntly, when historical costume IS
chosen. il Is used n sort Oi gro,ln l.
work, and modified or elaborated by us
In any way the fancy of the wcnrcr may
dictate. In. choosing historical cos
TUNES, ~ u general rule. gentlemen nu'
here closely To the style of the original.
Ladies', ON the contrary, want the cos
tune modified according TO the prevail
ing fashion. For instance, il IL Is the
fashion to wear puil> on the side, or u
sashcs are worn. the gentle sex want
the style in ticr masquerade costumes.
II n gentleman. however, orders cos
tune worn three hundred years ago, hc
sticks To IL. II is funny, but it Is 50.
Most costumes are simply fantastic with.
out regard 10 any of the historical
style, shownin the earlier times. Cos
tunes arc in many cases made to order:
but generally they arc hired for special
occasions from regular costumers, who
keep n grci, variety Of styles on hand.
Often costumes are made To order Tor q
special occasion. and taken back by tho
costumcr aftcrward and hired by lcs'
fashionable people for other occasions
Formerly masquerade suits wer.
trimmed with fancy braidS and ribbons,
now they are embroidered in the most
expensive manner. There Is scare y
any limit to their cost. That depends
on the richness Of the material, style
and the character Of ornamentation.
have known u wealthy society lady to
pay ~ high as five hundred dollars for
masyT .raie .ut. Even that figure Is
often exceeded ~ \. Sun.