Talk:Horse head mask

Barack Obama and article citing Wikipedia
I removed this from the article:

The horse mask reached national mainstream attention in July 2014 when President Barack Obama was photographed in Denver shaking the hand of a man on the street wearing a horse mask.

I think the "national mainstream attention" note is a little dubious, and the reference is excessive naval gazing. Emddudley (talk)


 * The story is indeed national mainstream as a simple Google search will show, it's notable when a meme intersects with the POTUS, as so many reliable sources confirm. The source is Washington Post BTW it's not "excessive" to include a single source. --  Green  C  03:36, 11 July 2014 (UTC)


 * I'd second that the inclusion is notable and well-sourced. As to the original edit's Congressional origins, I'm sure we're just looking at a bored intern. Polyglottalstop (talk) 18:06, 11 July 2014 (UTC)

Creative Commons images on Flickr

 * https://secure.flickr.com/photos/rangerrick/8490358459/
 * https://secure.flickr.com/photos/dreamingchilango/7095514543/
 * https://secure.flickr.com/photos/zoomar/169699637/
 * https://secure.flickr.com/photos/sweetlabs/6977620075/

-- Green  C  22:00, 18 July 2014 (UTC)
 * Sadly three of these CC images have non-commercial requirements and can't be used on Wikipedia. --Lewis Hulbert (talk) 02:02, 27 July 2014 (UTC)

No mention of Black Label Society's music video?
They had at least two of the masks in that, and first use of them in a music video by a signed band to my knowledge. --108.2.127.19 (talk) 16:34, 18 March 2015 (UTC)

That mask appears in the Alcazar's music video "Crying at the discoteque" back in 2000. You have to backdate the first appearance! — Preceding unsigned comment added by 93.151.137.137 (talk) 14:47, 20 May 2016 (UTC)


 * Yes it looks like the horse head mask is in Crying at the Discoteque (along with other weird masks). --  Green  C  15:37, 20 May 2016 (UTC)

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1997 appearance in Brass Eye
"Drugs," the second episode of the British satirical news miniseries Brass Eye, had featured a horse head mask as can be seen here. This episode aired in 1997. The mask shown does not seem to be of Archie McPhee's model, but this type of mask's use for comedy was thus attested six years prior to 2003. However, I am at a loss as to whether or how to incorporate this information in the article, and how much of this information if any should be incorporated. Blue Caper  (talk) 05:53, 9 December 2018 (UTC)


 * User:BlueCaper: Hey awesome find. Often memes, or whatever they are called, have no distinct origin. It's like etymology trying to find the origin of red herring the more one looks the further back and complex it becomes. I would suspect the horse head mask goes way back since it is easy to make from plaster of paris, and horses used to be a lot more common in culture. There's a painting from the middle ages of someone wearing a similar looking mask but of a bird. I think it's worthwhile including a section on "antecedents" to encourage more finds like this one. Similar to high five the article is about the phenomenon that began in the late 1970s, but earlier antecedents are noted. If we eventually find a source that gives a more complete history of the horse head, then it can be integrated into the main history, which is currently about the phenomenon that began with the Archive McPhee rubber mask. --  Green  C  14:19, 9 December 2018 (UTC)

Might also be worth noting that the the music video for Alcazar - Alcazar - Crying At The Discoteque which appears to have been released in 2000 contains a horses head mask multiple times. 24 January 2019