I was at the thrift store gathering dolly heads for my next online class and came across a plastic Colonel Sanders piggy bank. Well...who could resist that?
When it arrived home I knew I had to do something out of the ordinary with it...but what?
My inspiration came from masks you may have seen from from the Venetian Carnival....the masks that I am referring to in particular are the medico della peste masks...the Plague Doctor masks. Though, these days they are worn for festive reasons...once upon a time...they were worn to protect a physician from....the plague.
These particular physicians were given the task to treat the victims of the Black Death (bubonic plague) in the 1600's an ensemble was created for these grim doctors that consisted of a heavy overcoat made of waxed fabric, a mask with eyeglass openings and a cone nose in the shape of a bird beak. The doctors also would carry a cane or stick. The idea was that this costume would protect them from contracting the disease...since they believed the Black Death to be airborne. The cane was used to allow the physicians to...not very affectionately...poke and prod patients without getting to close. The beak on the other hand, was filled with scented substances and straw, to purify the air the doctor breathed.
The moral of the story...never upset an angry chicken god.