Mask for a Costume for a Horse used in Pagents: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

Part of costume for a horse, to be fit as mask over head of horse. Upper portion is green velvet with holes cut out for ears, plume head, and eyes bordered with heavy gray material. There are one metal ring, one cut brown shoelace, and one gray plastic rope for fastening. Below the head area is a larger area to cover neck of maroon velvet with 2 “V’s” made of strips of pink brocade having gold metallic thread. For the mane, two rows of gray rope-fringe are sewn down the middle, safety pin is attached to middle tab.

The horse mask was part of a stock costume furnished by the John B. Rogers Production Company of Fostoria, Ohio, one of many firms that became active in the 1920s. Made for use in a pageant. Community historical pageants became an important form of popular civic celebration from 1900 to 1930. Under the direction of professional pageant masters, the town residents themselves acted in various episodes, performed dances and sang songs often especially written for the themes and events depicted. Special and stock scripts as well as costumes and props were supplied by commercial firms that turned the staging of pageants into a national enterprise. The perseverance of pioneers conquering the wilderness and defending new homes against Native Americans, the great battles of the Revolutionary and Civil Wars, and the nobility of the ordinary, hard-working people, all punctuated by thematic music and “folk” dancing, were standard ingredients.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date made: 1920 - 1929
• maker: John B. Rogers Producing Company
• Object Name: Mask
• Object Name: mask
• Object Name: costume
• Physical Description: velvet (overall material)
• Physical Description: cotton (overall material)
• Physical Description: plastic (overall material)
• Physical Description: metal (overall material)
• Measurements: overall (open): 43 1/2 in; 110.49 cm
• Measurements: overall (folded): 34 in; 86.36 cm
• Subject: Horses
• Subject: Theater
• ID Number: 1980.0302.13A
• accession number: 1980.0302
• catalog number: 1980.0302.13A
• Credit Line: The Rogers Company
• Data Source: National Museum of American History

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of American History through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed.