Guest post by Arrkay from Culturally F’d, the furry youtube channel. See their tag on Dogpatch Press for more.
It’s #FursuitFriday which means twitter floods with pictures of our fluffy creations. It’s also the time for us at Culturally F’d and Dogpatch to look back at some Fursuit History. Make sure to catch up on Part 1: Masks and start your own exploration of animal costume performance with Culturally F’d.
IN THIS ARTICLE: Don’t miss the story of Charles Lauri, a famed “animal impersonator” who thrilled the stages of Victorian London, but is little known today. The story of his acting skill, uncovered from an 1893 magazine, could be an inspiration for fursuiters everywhere.
Many people are familiar with a unique team costume for Halloween – the Pantomime horse, that takes two people to play it. Like a tandem bike, it makes an interesting buddy situation. This jogs a vague memory from when I was very young, of a 1960’s Flintstones cartoon with Fred and Barney in such a costume. It may have been a dinosaur, or a false memory, but the silly situation must have happened in old comedies to the point of cliche. TVtropes has it under Animal Anthropomorphism tropes.
If you (like me) had no idea what Pantomime meant until just now, let’s start to learn. The old-fashioned costuming seems like a traditional kind of activity, more social than commercial. I had an impression of something belonging to the age of door-to-door Christmas caroling, that may be fading away.
Or is it? In 2013, a Panto Horse race broke a Guinness World Record for most runners (42 teams.) And, since this is a Furry blog, you know I’m connecting this topic to you and your thriving subculture. (Imagine that race happening at a con! It would be an easy record to break.) I’m happy to learn that such fun exists… check out The London Pantomime Horse Race: a “fantastically silly”, “must-see event.”
This isn’t about Halloween, or silly races. There’s much more to it. The spark for this article was randomly running across 100-year-old photos of theatrical animal costumes. They made me do a double-take – did some fursuiter have a time machine!? They were incredibly well crafted, and made me very curious. I wondered why they were made so well, and for what purpose? They were fursuits- many generations before there was such a thing as Furries! I thought the topic had a lot of potential.
Headlines, links and little stories to make your tail wag. Story tips are always welcome.
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A Furry Merry Christmas To One and All – from Tom Broadbent, documentary photographer.
Tom takes us to the Londonfurs annual Christmas party. “Retro gaming was the theme and it was hosted at the Amber Bar in Moorgate.” (More about his art.)
Headlines, links and little stories to make your tail wag. Story tips are always welcome.
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Midwest Fur Fest evacuated by chemical spill. Fursuiters: stick to good old fashioned rug cleaner!
Initial report: Chemical leak prompts evacuation during Midwest FurFest at Rosemont Hyatt.
Several people could be seen in animal costumes waiting outside of the hotel. Ambulances from area suburbs were on scene helping transport people.
More: Glass Jar with White Substance, Strong Chlorine Smell Causes Firefighter, EMS Hazmat Response, Evacuation. Man, that’s a hell of a party foul.
It’s the regular feature of news bites, scoops, and Snausage links. Tips welcome- I’d love to post yours!
Only minor stories got my attention this week, so I threw in a few topic starters.
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– Technology’s Rainbow Connection – Silicon Valley’s Embrace of the Gay and Lesbian Community
The NY Times article relates to a general conflict about keeping subculture “weird” vs. inviting mainstream attention. (For example- A sex educator has trouble understanding why people wear costumes to gay pride parades, especially Furries.) Thanks for the shout out, Tristan!
