Venetian-style masks were often worn during the Jazz Age to conceal identity, break social barriers and add intrigue to the party. Despite Prohibition in the USA, many flouted the ban on alcohol and enjoyed drinking at underground nightclubs, speakeasies and illegal private parties. The artist W.T. Benda was acclaimed for his papier-mâché masks, which were used in masques and stage productions in New York City.  In Europe, masking was popular at cabarets in Paris and Weimar Berlin, which were renowned for their decadence in the years between the wars.  Women won the right to vote after a long and arduous struggle, challenging traditional gender roles and embracing new freedoms.  Society was in flux.

The frenzied atmosphere of the Roaring Twenties was also a response to years of hardship, including the trauma of World War I, recession, unemployment and the Spanish Flu. The pandemic, which lasted for two years from 1918 to 1920, claimed 50 million lives, one in 15 Americans. Despite its name, the flu did not originate in Spain. As a neutral country during the war, they were the first to report the deadly influenza, which was censored in other countries to maintain public morale. Interestingly, Spanish costumes became popular among partygoers after the war, as evident in Royal Doulton’s Dulcinea with her Venetian domino mask at her side. Masqueraders also adopted the scarlet cloak and devil’s horns of Mephistopheles, a demon who corrupts men and collects the souls of the damned for Lucifer. He evolved into Mephisto, the traditional demon king of pantomime.

The Art Deco Gallery at WMODA features several flappers and vamps with Venetian-style masks produced by British and European porcelain factories, including Royal Doulton, Goldscheider and Hutschenreuther. Masks were also used for interior decoration and hung on the walls. Clarice Cliff, the doyenne of British Art Deco, designed several striking masks which can be seen at WMODA. The Art Deco Gallery also features rare Royal Doulton masks designed by Richard Garbe for the company’s first limited edition collections in the 1930s.

Visit the WMODA Museum Shop in Hollywood, Florida, to recreate the mood of the Great Gatsby era with Balocoloc’s traditional Venetian masks. The stunning designs can be worn to Halloween and Mardi Gras costume parties or displayed on the walls of your home.  Balocoloc was founded in Venice in 1977, and in 2001, Giorgio Iurcotta, the son of the founder, opened a studio in Orlando to create hand-decorated papier-mache masks in the manner of the original Mascherano. Over the years, his artisans have demonstrated their creativity at WMODA exhibitions and events. The Balocoloc collection is extensive with commedia dell’arte characters and baroque fantasies jostling for attention with more macabre designs, such as the Plague Doctor. Make your masquerade party plans now!

You can watch a Madam Satan movie clip on Youtube