Masks

It all started with peekaboo.

I’ve been both amused and amazed with masks.

I remember climbing in my grandma Jarvis’ closet to reach a hatbox containing two masks. One was a devil, the other was one of those creepy transparent faces. I would dart around the house, particularly the basement with my cousins, and scare people.

My own kids found great pleasure in that, too. I don’t know if it’s genetic or just being a kid. (One of my boys still finds great joy in jump scaring me to this very day!)

My kids really enjoyed costuming and masks. We made our own. We bought them at garage sales. We bought them on clearance. Ultimately, we had a 32 gallon tub full of costumes. We wore them out, wearing them on the farm, in the car, overnight, in the tub…masks were big fun and big mojo.

I don’t know quite what it is about masks. The scares might suggest a power they provide (but then, much of that is scary behavior as much as it is the mask itself.) I think the power of masks, the interesting thing about them, is that they allow a little bit of anonymity. They let us not quite be ourselves so transparently (even with a creepy transparent mask).

I like to fix and invent, and of course, that carried over to costumes. I still get more joy from designing my own than buying something ready-made. I could chronicle all the homespun costumes, but I’ll share just a bit here to provide the gist.

My favorite costume, like a Hollywood one, required contributions from several people. My grandmother sewed an impressive collar onto a black cape lined with red satin. My aunt did my makeup. My mom was a fashion and safety consultant. My dad provided commentary and critique. Kids at school marveled as they should for my debut as a vampire. But I had another touch to add. It was pure genius.

‘Know how in the movies monsters’ faces are often splashed with a bar of spooky light? Short of having a film crew in tow, maybe with the grip or best boy or whomever it would be with some lighting effect, I had to create my own. The most frightening part of a vampire is, of course, his fangs, right? So I strapped a big block lantern battery to my ankle and ran a cable up my pant leg. I rigged a switch to palm, and ran a cable up my sleeve to meet the other cable which I ran up the back of my neck (behind the cape) and discreetly to my mouth…where I had a light bulb secreted in my cheek.

It did work, but the bulb got very hot and I think I might have suffered electrical burns, too. I’m sure it was frightening, but I used it sparingly. I was lucky the bulb did not break in my mouth! Just a year or so later, glow-in-the-dark vampire fangs became commercially available, and my ingenuity and pain were for naught.

Since that time, I’ve had many costumes and elaborate masks. I’ve variously hidden behind them and found my better self from them. I’ve paid a lot of attention to masks, from those of the plague doctors to those inspired by spin doctors, from Alien to Zorro and back again. I’ve toured the Museum of Masks in Zacatecas, Mexico (worthy of several blog posts). I’ve designed a dozen. I’ve dreamed up more.

And I wear masks all the time.

You?