It's early October and getting close to the haunting season here in central Nebraska. We've been selling Halloween costumes and masks at the Stagecoach for a long time now. I don't remember the exact year that we got into the spook business but it must have been in the late 1970's, over 35 years ago. Back then you really couldn't find any costumes for adults, just very cheap plastic masks and costumes for kids that my generation all grew up with.
The Stagecoach was the first business in central Nebraska to really start selling quality Halloween merchandise in central Nebraska and that really started as somewhat of a fluke. When Gary got out of the Navy boot camp in San Diego in the early 1970's, him and some buddies took a weekend trip up north to visit Disneyland. Right there in the castle was a shop that sold magic tricks and high quality Don Post masks and Gary thought those masks were the coolest things. Well, fast forward a few years and Gary started managing the Stagecoach for his parents after his Navy stint.
One of the vendors that we bought from at the Stagecoach just happened to sell Don Post masks and we bought a couple just because we thought they would look good in the store. We weren't even thinking about Halloween at the time. I can still remember after all these years what those two Don Post masks were, Tor Johnson and Nosferatu. They were both classic masks that today are collector items.
As Halloween season neared we had to reorder these two masks and started selling other great masks. We figured at that time we might be on to something. Over the years we added costumes, rental costumes, wigs, props and other accessories. We always tried to purchase the top quality items to difference us from the other stores and still do. For instance, back then the best theatrical make up was Steins and had been since the 1890's, so that's what we sold. You had to go to Omaha if you wanted Steins make up before the Stagecoach sold it. Now days, Ben Nye make up is considered the best, so that's what we carry.
We never imagined that those two Don Post masks would evolve into the huge selection of halloween goods that we sell today.
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