Happy Halloween from Retroette!

Frankenstein has tea

Here’s a vintage photo of Frankenstein having a very civilized cup of tea.

My husband says I should refer to him as Frankenstein’s monster, which I know is accurate, but does anyone know him as that anymore?

The Englishman who played him, Boris Karloff, loved his tea, and there’s all sorts of fun behind-the-scenes photos of him on a tea break on Neatorama.

Interesting footnote: Boris Karloff was born William Pratt. He changed his name to sound more exotic and to prevent embarrassing his family, who he thought disapproved of his acting career.

The makeup artist who did Karloff’s iconic makeup wanted to sound less exotic. He was born Janus Piccoula and became Jack Pierce.

Another interesting tidbit: Universal Studios owns the copyright on Frankenstein’s monster’s makeup format. (I didn’t know you could own the copyright on makeup format.)

Here’s a photo of someone re-creating the makeup and tea break. I guess the makeup copyright ran out….

Frankenstein on a tea break

Have a safe and happy Halloween!

You might also enjoy 10 Sexy Vintage Halloween Costumes as well as these Victorian witches.

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