Richard Nixon mask

A Richard Nixon mask is a mask with the likeness of Richard Nixon. These were commercially available and quite popular in the waning days of the Nixon Administration. They are generally made out of vinyl by the Cesar mask (fr) company from France and are sold worldwide. The most famous Nixon mask was the big nose Cesar Nixon comical mask made by Cesar in the 1970s. Later other companies made similar versions made from latex rubber or similar flexible castable compounds.

Mask of Richard Nixon from the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum

One of the notable features of most Richard Nixon masks is the classically caricatured nose. Many of the different versions of the Nixon mask have a wide grinning smile as well.

Although the masks were widely believed to be only a fad that would presumably die down as the public attention on Watergate waned (and once Nixon left office), the masks managed to outlive their presumed fad status by becoming popular during events such as Halloween and adult masquerade parties. The Richard Nixon mask remains popular today, worn both for humorous effect, and in protest marches and similar "public displays of disaffection". According to Harper's magazine's October 2002 "Harper's Index," Nixon masks were the best-selling political mask for the previous five years for top U.S. costume wholesaler Morris Costumes.[1]

The masks sparked a commercial demand for masks resembling other famous people, most notably Presidents of the United States. Masks of other presidents have often been most popular either in the term of the current president or immediately preceding term.