Normally, folks post images of Halloween costumes only on the day. It's a problem with holiday-related collectibles. For a painter, putting Santa in a painting means no one will hang it…except in December. There are many serious collectors of Halloweniana (yes, a real word) but they don't collect the plastic masks and costumes much. I'd like to say because so many burned up, but that would be horrible.
I have a better peg for this drawing here. It is, of course, the Lone Ranger movie coming out with Johnny Depp as Tonto. It looks from the previews that the Lone Ranger is dressed pretty much like junior here, but Johnny has opted for a more realistic Tonto. One accurate and hopefully with more respect to the spirit of the first nations people he is characterizing. It is a risky and delicate career move, as he will not only be depicting a representative of an entire group of cultures we wiped out, but also one finally speaking up about being stereotyped in horrible manner by the still dominant white culture. I'll see it just to see if Mr. Depp pulls it off, and I fully trust he will. Johnny is serious about his craft and an actor we are fortunate to have. His earlier film on Native Americans is the fantastic but forgotten Dead Man, which in addition to having amazing recreations of North Western tribe material culture, had a soundtrack by Neil Young which never gets tired.
It also had Michigan's own Iggy Pop. One can NOT go wrong with anything Iggy has ever done, and his turn as a shaker-bonnet wearing country and western cross-dresser is typical of his artistic output. By which I mean great. The film also had Robert Mitchum (!) Gabriel Byrne, John Hurt, Crispin Glover, Billy Bob Thornton and more, all of them quirky as hell. View it. In fact view any Jim Jarmusch flick.
There are numerous curse words here. And a cross-dressing Iggy Pop, fearless as always. Have the children watch!
The new Lone Ranger, one of a long string of masked men in blue…will be a huge hit
The drawing top is an original ink piece of an imagined Lone Ranger costume produced by an anonymous artist for the Collegeville Costume Company. I assume it dates to the television show. It is a small drawing of only 4" x 8" but check the detail!
"Hi-Yo Silver" ink on cardboard, circa 1960? Costume Company Fashion Drawing Collection Jim Linderman
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