Halloween Costumes On Parade At SFO

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
CONTACT: Ron V. Wilson
Director, Bureau of Community Affairs
(650) 821-4000
SF-02-45

Halloween Costumes on Parade at SFO

SAN FRANCISCO -- From ghosts and goblins to celebrities and cartoon characters - Halloween is a highly anticipated opportunity for children to become someone or something else for the night. This beloved custom of dressing up for Halloween is explored in a new exhibition at San Francisco International Airport, Halloween Made in America.

On view through March 2003, Halloween Made in America features a selection of Halloween costumes since the late 1800s. Approximately 20 costumes, 26 masks and 34 photographs reveal the evolution of the costume from simple hand-stitched creations to store-bought vacuum-formed plastic masks and rayon outfits. The oldest costume presented, a homemade cotton “devil boy” jumpsuit from the 1890s, is an early example of a classic still favored today. A range of costumes from the 1930s through the 1960s, such as manufactured Popeye and Blondie outfits from the 1950s, reflect the development of the twentieth century trend to dress as celebrities and characters from popular culture. Photographs of antique and modern Halloween masks by photographer Phyllis Galembo further depict many of the styles and variations that this ancient tradition has manifested in America over the last one hundred years.

Halloween Made in America is located in San Francisco Airport Museums Gallery D5, in the connector between Terminals 1 and 2. The exhibition is free of charge and accessible to the public twenty-four hours a day.

San Francisco Airport Museums

The San Francisco Airport Museums program was established by the Airport Commission in 1980 for the purposes of humanizing the Airport environment, providing visibility for the unique cultural life of San Francisco, and providing educational services for the traveling public. Today, the San Francisco Airport Museums features twenty-one galleries throughout the Airport terminals displaying a rotating schedule of art, history, science, and cultural exhibitions. A permanent collection dedicated to the history of commercial aviation is located in the San Francisco Airport Commission Aviation Library and Louis A. Turpen Aviation Museum, open Sunday-Friday 10:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., closed Saturdays and holidays.

For more information about the San Francisco Airport Museums, please contact Jane Sullivan at (650) 821-5123.

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