The Lone Ranger
The Lone Ranger
The Lone Ranger (Clayton Moore) ranger uniform tunic (top right) and identity-concealing mask (bottom left) from The Lone Ranger. Opposite page, Superman (George Reeves) uniform tunic with “S” chest logo (top left) and his dense rubber molded muscle suit (bottom right) from The Adventures of Superman. Both tunics were acquired from the Western Costume Star Collection, the mask from the estate of Clayton Moore, and the muscle suit from series special e ff ects supervisor Thol “Si” Simonson. CURATOR’S NOTE: “Western and superhero programs of the 1950s & 1960s o ff ered families and especially children a steady diet of ‘truth, justice & the American way.’ The Lone Ranger was among the most popular, and his gray ensemble had a special cloth strap sewn into the tunic so it remained tucked into his trousers even while riding horseback or maintaining order. The Lone Ranger black mask was specifically worn after production ended after Mr. Moore was prohibited by rights holder The Wrather Corporation to wear his show-worn mask at public events. To prevent further legal action, his workaround, said daughter Dawn Moore, was to create another mask out of high-grade black leather and adhered to Italian black lacquer eyeglass frames that were just similar enough. At the conclusion of each season of The Adventures of Superman, ‘man of steel’ George Reeves was known to remove the iconic “S” chest emblem from his uniform tunics and mail them to sick kids who had written him. I acquired such a Superman tunic sans chest emblem, then searched nearly 10 years so the corresponding “S” patch could rightfully be sewn back onto center chest.” - James Comisar
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