How to make Halloween another fine example of California Gold?
August 10, 2018 8:56 AM Subscribe
We need to figure out a super California themed Halloween costume for our kid who will be 2-ish. Help! I'm not too crafty but can do some things and we don't have a ton of time to devote to this but are planning ahead to assemble/procure things. Can you help us out? Right now the front runner is Pat Brown.
Last year the kid was Charlie Brown and Paul Bunyan. Charlie Brown worked because it was just a t-shirt. Paul Bunyan was tough because they didn't like to keep on the hat. (We're thinking that they might be OK with glasses because both parents wear them and they like to play with sunglasses.)
We'd like something very California and maybe kind of obscure. A gold miner seems too obvious (and problematic). Huell Howser might work, but the kid isn't good at saying "AMAZING" so we might wait until they're older. We're in Northern California, so icons from up here are preferred. We also thought about a quail, but that seems twee and there's no guarantee they'd not hate a full costume.
Last year the kid was Charlie Brown and Paul Bunyan. Charlie Brown worked because it was just a t-shirt. Paul Bunyan was tough because they didn't like to keep on the hat. (We're thinking that they might be OK with glasses because both parents wear them and they like to play with sunglasses.)
We'd like something very California and maybe kind of obscure. A gold miner seems too obvious (and problematic). Huell Howser might work, but the kid isn't good at saying "AMAZING" so we might wait until they're older. We're in Northern California, so icons from up here are preferred. We also thought about a quail, but that seems twee and there's no guarantee they'd not hate a full costume.
Monarch was the name of the California grizzly bear depicted on the state flag, though his story is rather sad. Kid could dress in brown and wear bear ears.
posted by FencingGal at 9:09 AM on August 10, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by FencingGal at 9:09 AM on August 10, 2018 [2 favorites]
Best answer: Dress head to toe in purple and be a grape!
This California millenial would be SUPER PISSED if you didnt make that a California Raisin (tm) costume.
what about Karl the Fog?
posted by Exceptional_Hubris at 9:15 AM on August 10, 2018 [4 favorites]
This California millenial would be SUPER PISSED if you didnt make that a California Raisin (tm) costume.
what about Karl the Fog?
posted by Exceptional_Hubris at 9:15 AM on August 10, 2018 [4 favorites]
Oski the Bear!
posted by theodolite at 9:29 AM on August 10, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by theodolite at 9:29 AM on August 10, 2018 [2 favorites]
If my kid was still 2 and I wanted a California costume I would turn him into 80s David Lee Roth.
posted by bondcliff at 9:31 AM on August 10, 2018 [6 favorites]
posted by bondcliff at 9:31 AM on August 10, 2018 [6 favorites]
Slick his hair back with hair gel and he can be Gavin Newsom!
posted by Wavelet at 9:32 AM on August 10, 2018
posted by Wavelet at 9:32 AM on August 10, 2018
California is the Golden State. A large golden California sandwich sign, duh.
posted by effluvia at 9:33 AM on August 10, 2018
posted by effluvia at 9:33 AM on August 10, 2018
make them a Burner, but like a Burner from [whatever year] when it was cool
posted by roger ackroyd at 9:47 AM on August 10, 2018
posted by roger ackroyd at 9:47 AM on August 10, 2018
Best answer: The seagull on the 49-Mile Scenic Drive sign.
A quail (cute!)
A California poppy
posted by mnemonica at 9:54 AM on August 10, 2018 [1 favorite]
A quail (cute!)
A California poppy
posted by mnemonica at 9:54 AM on August 10, 2018 [1 favorite]
How about a member of the Suede-Denim Secret Police?
posted by Ufez Jones at 10:00 AM on August 10, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by Ufez Jones at 10:00 AM on August 10, 2018 [1 favorite]
Best answer: This 2nd generation native thinks a California Quail would be fuckin' adorable.
You could make a walking flame, with felt and cellophane, and go as the Great Fire of 1851 (or a wildfire, but people might not appreciate that even though I think it's clever and relevant.)
You could do a sandwich board costume with the highway sign for PCH, too.
+1 for David Lee Roth, though. Outstanding.
posted by ApathyGirl at 10:10 AM on August 10, 2018
You could make a walking flame, with felt and cellophane, and go as the Great Fire of 1851 (or a wildfire, but people might not appreciate that even though I think it's clever and relevant.)
You could do a sandwich board costume with the highway sign for PCH, too.
+1 for David Lee Roth, though. Outstanding.
posted by ApathyGirl at 10:10 AM on August 10, 2018
John Muir.
posted by sutureselves at 10:18 AM on August 10, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by sutureselves at 10:18 AM on August 10, 2018 [2 favorites]
Response by poster: Oski the Bear!
Though both parents are Cal grads, we're not Cal enough to dress the kid as Oski.
Slick his hair back with hair gel and he can be Gavin Newsom!
This made me laugh, but we're not ready to say goodbye to Jerry Brown yet.
Thanks for the suggestion. Keep 'em coming!
posted by kendrak at 10:33 AM on August 10, 2018
Though both parents are Cal grads, we're not Cal enough to dress the kid as Oski.
Slick his hair back with hair gel and he can be Gavin Newsom!
This made me laugh, but we're not ready to say goodbye to Jerry Brown yet.
Thanks for the suggestion. Keep 'em coming!
posted by kendrak at 10:33 AM on August 10, 2018
Burrito?
posted by vunder at 10:37 AM on August 10, 2018 [6 favorites]
posted by vunder at 10:37 AM on August 10, 2018 [6 favorites]
you can put the kid in a grey sweatsuit with white tape stripes and some cheap light plastic cars hotglued to it and say s/he is LA/bay area traffic.
posted by koroshiya at 10:58 AM on August 10, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by koroshiya at 10:58 AM on August 10, 2018 [3 favorites]
Another vote for a California raisin.
posted by gryphonlover at 12:03 PM on August 10, 2018
posted by gryphonlover at 12:03 PM on August 10, 2018
Dress the kid up as a Corgi and they can go as the First Dog, Colusa Brown (or previous First Dog, Sutter Brown).
I also like Karl the Fog.
posted by radioamy at 12:53 PM on August 10, 2018
I also like Karl the Fog.
posted by radioamy at 12:53 PM on August 10, 2018
Seconding Famed Naturalist John Muir®!
Richard Nixon? Ronald Reagan? Harvey Milk? Arnold Schwarzenegger? (Could wear campaign button for ID.)
Fictional and less obscure: Zorro, Mickey Mouse
posted by The Underpants Monster at 1:47 PM on August 10, 2018
Richard Nixon? Ronald Reagan? Harvey Milk? Arnold Schwarzenegger? (Could wear campaign button for ID.)
Fictional and less obscure: Zorro, Mickey Mouse
posted by The Underpants Monster at 1:47 PM on August 10, 2018
Johnny, the newspaper carrier from Better Off Dead, is a comfy costume that would make me laugh hard (it's set in Northern CA). I think people would get it pretty quickly if you taught kid the catchphrase or pinned two dollars to their wrist.
posted by veery at 2:13 PM on August 10, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by veery at 2:13 PM on August 10, 2018 [1 favorite]
Coit Tower or the Transamerica Pyramid! But he's only 2, so those are too complicated. Keep looking at the slide show, though. You could put him in white footed jammies, white makeup and make a hat out of cotton batting and your son could be that Northern Californian classic: FOG! (or @karlthefog; can also use a white hooded blanket or towel for fog effect).
When my kid was 2, I put her in a white tee with black polka dots, gave her a black nose, pinned some ears in her hair and pretended she was a puppy. Have fun!
posted by Bella Donna at 3:21 PM on August 10, 2018
When my kid was 2, I put her in a white tee with black polka dots, gave her a black nose, pinned some ears in her hair and pretended she was a puppy. Have fun!
posted by Bella Donna at 3:21 PM on August 10, 2018
Response by poster: Richard Nixon? Ronald Reagan? Harvey Milk? Arnold Schwarzenegger? (Could wear campaign button for ID.)
The kid was named after the Governors Brown two days after Trump was elected POTUS. I want to avoid anything too political, which is why if the kid is Pat Brown they'll carry something about the aqueduct and not the classic Reagan and Reality or Reagan, the Political Chameleon. (Which if you want to read some speculation of where we'd end up that are a little too spot on, I can't recommend either book enough.)
posted by kendrak at 3:30 PM on August 10, 2018 [2 favorites]
The kid was named after the Governors Brown two days after Trump was elected POTUS. I want to avoid anything too political, which is why if the kid is Pat Brown they'll carry something about the aqueduct and not the classic Reagan and Reality or Reagan, the Political Chameleon. (Which if you want to read some speculation of where we'd end up that are a little too spot on, I can't recommend either book enough.)
posted by kendrak at 3:30 PM on August 10, 2018 [2 favorites]
Jerry Garcia? Costume likely requires a beard, which may be troublesome to get the kid to keep on. However, "beard, maybe wig, glasses, solid t-shirt (probably black)" is about all it takes.
One or more of the letters from the "Hollywood" sign?
... at least a California raisin costume is easy to make.
posted by ErisLordFreedom at 6:47 PM on August 10, 2018
One or more of the letters from the "Hollywood" sign?
... at least a California raisin costume is easy to make.
posted by ErisLordFreedom at 6:47 PM on August 10, 2018
Best answer: Charles Muscatine My mentor at UC Berkeley, Pat Brown commissioned the Muscatine Report on Higher Education, director of Strawberry Creek College, blacklisted in the fifties, Chaucer expert, an extraordinary human being. Nice connection to Pat Brown.
posted by effluvia at 9:33 PM on August 10, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by effluvia at 9:33 PM on August 10, 2018 [1 favorite]
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posted by mochapickle at 9:01 AM on August 10, 2018 [1 favorite]