A mask tells us more than a face

Having been interested in all things Halloween for just about as long as I can remember, and being a near lifelong collector of all things, it's kind of a given that I would have accumulated quite a bit of Halloween/horror related items throughout the years.

The one item that I have tried to avoid though is masks, and not because I don't like them, because I do, it's just that they tend to take up a lot of space, while also being somewhat difficult to display. Coming in to this year, I had only ever bought three, and those three were just too good of deals to pass up.

This year has been a bit of a different story though, as my resolve has weakened, causing me to purchase five masks this year alone. All five being once again, deals that I thought were just too good to pass up.

Earlier this year while perusing a seller's "other items" on eBay, I saw this Collegeville ghost mask, and fell in love with it instantly. I have seen a lot of Collegeville masks over the years, but I had never seen this one, which to me, looks like a more sinister version of Casper. Thankfully no one else seemed to be interested in it, so I ended up getting it for around $7 or $8.

From the 1950's through the 1980's, Collegeville was one of two companies (Ben Cooper being the other) that were synonymous with Halloween costumes. Thanks to the low price point, variety, and availability, I can't imagine someone who was a kid during that era, who didn't have at least one of these company's offerings as a youth.

My evil Casper came with the box, but didn't have the vinyl smock (costume), which is fine since I didn't really care about that. Some may consider childish, but the phrasing used on the lower portion of this box, is something that I find quite amusing.

The mask is stamped 1984, so that should give a rough idea as to when this price tag was from.

A couple of months after the first mask was gotten, I was once again going through a seller's "other items", and came across two more masks that I thought I couldn't live without. Both of which were once again from the 80's, but this time, made by Ben cooper. This skeleton makes me think of El Dia de los Muertos, or even Mardi Gras, more so than Halloween... but it's still pretty neat.

I find this vampire, in a way I can't really put in to words, extremely charming. Once shipping was added to the mix, both of these were around $5 each.

Fast forwarding to a couple of weeks ago, I was at Food City doing some grocery shopping, when I noticed that they had finally decided to devote a small section of an aisle to an assortment of Halloween goods. Most of the stuff was what you would normally expect to see in a grocery store, but two things did, at least in my opinion, stand out from the rest of the items... and go figure, they were masks.

This first one made me think of Masters of the Universe, with such an instant association to something I loved as a kid (and now), I had to have it. Being made of rubber, it's a little harder to take a picture of them while laying flat, which is unfortunate, because you don't get the full effect of the raised bumps running down the center of the forehead.

This one has Clown (from Spawn) meets Slipknot, all over it. I really dig this mask, and thankfully I was at the store when I was, as this was the last one they had. These two masks are made out of high quality rubber (the clown being the better made of the two), which would usually be reflected in the price, but to my surprise (and delight)... both of these were only $1.49 each! I ask you, how was I supposed to walk away from that price?

Oh, and one final thing. Just so no one ever tries to accuse me of plagiarism, the title of this post comes from a quote by the great, Oscar Wilde. When struggling, and failing mightily, to come up with a catchy title, sometimes one has to look for help from someone who possesses -- or in this case, possessed -- an infinitely superior writing ability.

Thanks for taking a moment to look at my page.