Wauwatosa news. [volume] (Wauwatosa, Wis.) 1900-1948, 1903-02-07

t'ic UllCu with
boxes containingl I'M
others still finer. -1&zSZM
The show cases - %/zlW
display crowns and >1@z-51zzz-aaID
helmets for every H."
sort Of king, 0----
knight and warrior, and scepters and
swords are not lacking. The proprietor
oil the store. who IS n clever German
woman, comes forward, and willingly dis
courses upon the masqueraders.
Women Seek the Prizes.
1T is the women who are out for
prizes, she says. The men do NOT care
so much, and are not so particular what
they have. But the women-they dress
Tor the prize They come here. and they
NaoW not what they want. Make us a
costume that will take the prize they
say, aud then | look them over and see
what it is that they will look best in.
II II IS Il young woman with a pretty
ngufe, then | know that she must have d
short skirt, if she is to take the prize.
Long trains, YOU see. do not look so nice
when dancing. for they have to be held
up and that spoils the looks OF the cos
tune, So | plan a little dress with a
snort skirt. between knees and ankles.
One girl comes to me and | fix her out
with = water lily costume. and ii is pref
ty. Silver gauze over green satin, loopel
with water lilies, and the low-necked bod
ice with water lilies on. and a little
crown and a scepter, for she is the water
lily queen. And she takes the prize, sure
enough.
To Surprise Her Mother.
Then one day comes young man and
a girl, and they are betrotned. And they
tell me that they want to go to such and
such ball. but mamma does not think
1t - right for young girl to 90 to n
mask ball, and they want to surprise her.
ssnd they want costumes that will look
well together So the young man takes
the Rosalind costume that was made
when those Waukesha people played at
the Davidson Theater. and | make for
the girl Il little costume that will do for
Celia. and they 90 to the ball. And the
next day they bring back the costumes.
ana they tell me that mamma is SO SUI
priScd when they unma sk-and what do
You think. they took the prize. those two.
ana then mamma was still more sur
priSed. And 50 il was all right.
so many little girls come here and
want to rent costumes. bat we do not
let them have them. You would hc sur
prised 50 young are these girls hut they
must so to the masquerade ball. But
often they would not bring the dress back
after the ball. aad so they DO not set ii
here.
Men Go in Groups.
'.Thc men who 20 to the masquerade
like to 90 in groups. Policemen, sailors,
devils. clowns, NeXcans. COW boys. Hap
py Hooligan and Brother Gus. AlphonSe
and CASTOR utchmen, IndianS-oh. it is
easy to fix up the men. They want 10 be
kings and pages sometimes. and then we
give them these fancy costumes. with en-
broidered doubCt and cloak and numet
hat and satin knee breeches. all com
plete. One young man comes TO us last
winter and we make him suit for a
page. all white and yellow satin. and he
has made over $40 in prizes, besides the
rent OF the costume. last winter and this.
and he had a good time besides. But
he was n fine-looking fellow and stood
strai@ht and was careful TO always keep
with maSOuer9derS that wore good
clothes. and 50 he made always IA good
appearance. There is much in that"
'"Hhe last thing that the girls ask for
now said the women, lis the ping-0ong
suit Then they come and say, Have
YOU cot a costume for a cowboy girl 2
aud | ask, How can there be Il cowboy
girl| and | find that they want big
soft hat. and short brown skirt and
shirt, with pistols in their belt and a long
rope One girl took a prize as the fenc-
ing girl, and now come lots of girls and
want that costume. But there are not
many who call for the historical charac-
ters: once in while one but not often.
They want us TO pick out the costume"
Supply the Theaters.
The shelves arc lined with biz square
boxes holding the character costumes. and
labeled Cardinal" "Lohengrin." "Nep-
tune" "Hamlet," English Tourist" and
dozens Of others. These. however. arc
mot much in demand for masquerades.
They are for the stage folk. who fire.
quently make demands upon the coStum.
ers \ good many of the costumes used
by the pahSt Theater stock company are
made mt the West Water street estab.
liShment. and last season, when the Cas-
tie Square Opera Company was here, il
would have gone hard with the heroes
and heroineS and villains if the costumcr
had not come to the rescue. Somewhere
on the road coming TO Milwaukee big
box of costumes went aStrav. and when
the company arrived i'll Milwaukee they
were minus many garment. The Lo-
hengrin costumes for Joseph Sheehan
were made at the Milwaukee costumerS'
and are now rppoSing in a box. waiting
for another silver knight to wear them.
Costumes for Aida" and other operas
were also supplied.
While most Of the costumes are made
nj the establishment. a good many of
them are imported. and there are shown
some Japanese garments, stiff with gold
embroidery. the garb of princess from
India. wrought with sequinS and mock
Jewels. and other costumes equally elab-
crate, which have come across the wa
ter and are worth good deal Of money.
The crowns and breast plates and swords
and daSgerS ere also mostly imported,
and 50 are the lace masks, but the little