/internal/media/dispatcher/48835/fullPlastic Halloween mask in the shape of a caricature of Charles de Gaullecirca 196010 1/4 × 8 9/16 × 6 1/2 in. (26 × 21.7 × 16.5 cm)Plastic; Metal; Fibers, Man-madeThe Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza Collection2002.033.00040One molded, plastic, painted, caricature Halloween mask meant to be Charles de Gaulle.
Mask has exaggerated features. Hair and eyebrows are painted grayish white, lips painted peach. Large holes cut in mask for eyes, nostrils, and tiny slit for mouth. Eye wrinkles and face lines are emphasized with painted brown lines. Plastic is an all-over peachish color to suggest skin tone. Cheeks, tip of nose, forehead, underneath chin, and underneath eyes are painted in orange and brown tones to suggest more defined facial features of the mask. Glossy magenta painted in wide lines on lower lids of eye holes; blurry dark eye lashes painted on upper lids of eye holes. Gray speckles of paint underneath chin. Molded ears stick out from the sides of the mask; painted orangish color on outside edges.
Two small metal grommets with a puncture hole in the middle of each one are just above each ear with a piece of yellowed elastic cord strung through for wearing.
"MADE IN FRANCE" stamped in relief onto lower back edge of mask in double-chin area.
Mask is in ok condition. Highest relief areas of mask have paint loss. Inside of mask is dirty; black flecks present throughout that are possibly mold. Removed by Stephanie Allen and Jan Masterson 04/11/2017. (JM 04/11/2017)Artifacts6623721.748793497626.035052070122104Mask16.5100000000Plastic Halloween mask in the form of a caricature of Charles de Gaulle. This would have been a costume representing one of the nation's allies, the President of France (1959-1969). The mask has holes cut in it for eyes and nostrils, as well as a small slit for the mouth. Two small metal grommets, one just above each ear, are connected with a piece of elastic strung through for wearing.
"MADE IN FRANCE" is stamped in relief on the reverse side of the mask.CaricaturesPop CultureHalloweenMaskWorld leadersCostumeToysGaulle, Charles deFranceThis early 1960s Halloween mask was apparently part of a world leaders series that also included British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan, Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev, Cuban president Fidel Castro and U.S. president John F. Kennedy. The Museum has examples of all of these except for President Kennedy, though we have other Kennedy masks that are not part of this series.
Although we know very little about these masks, three examples - Kennedy, Castro and Khrushchev - make brief appearances in the 1962 Universal Pictures film, Forty Pounds of Trouble, starring Tony Curtis. In the film, these masks were ostensibly purchased at Disneyland, though in reality the Anaheim theme park never sold political masks. -- Stephen Fagin, Curator