Rumor has it that,
when it comes to Purim, things were simpler in the ’70s and ’80s. Queen Esther,
Mordechai, the King, and the Clown accounted for the most of children’s
dress-ups, and mishloach manos were
known to be sent on cellophane-covered paper plates. But as we know, our
beautiful customs keep evolving, and Purim is no exception. “Themes” soon made
their debut.
What is a theme? I
would define it (not as per
Merriam-Webster!) as the coordination of mishloach
manos with the costumes of all the children and even the parents to make
one grand, unified splash! And it takes some creativity and planning.
How do people come
up with their themes? Often, they are based on current events. In an election
year, for example, you will find many themes around the president and the U.S.A.
If the Ravens win the Superbowl, you will see football/Ravens themes. In 2020,
after the appearance of Where’s Waldo at the
Siyum Hashas, Waldo became a very popular theme.
As founder and
caretaker of the Keren Reva Costume Gemach – children have dubbed me the
Costume Lady – I make it my business to keep up with the changes in the world
of costumes, and people often turn to me for advice. My first piece of advice
is that you need to take into account your family dynamics. Some ideas are
great for couples, and others are good for a family with kids; it depends on
the kids’ ages as well. Children do have opinions, and it sometimes gets hard when
the parents have a different idea. When my kids were younger, they knew that
they could dress up as anything they wanted for the school event, but Purim was
a family day. We spoke at length about our theme and how to incorporate it into
the costumes and mishloach manos.
What’s Popular
Some of the most
popular costumes/themes for boys are fireman and policeman – because what
little boy doesn’t want to be one of those macho figures? Sports-related themes
are very popular, too. Girls still love to be a kallah or a princess.
Some easy, car seat-safe
and sensory-friendly themes are scrubs for doctors and dentists as well as Dr.
Seuss’s Thing One and Thing Two. Countries are popular. I’ve seen Egyptians,
Chinese, Mexicans, Pilgrims, Uncle Sam, Statue of Liberty, and Betsy Ross. Occupations,
such as pilot or flight crew and construction workers, are also popular.
Creativity Plus
Here are some exceptionally
creative themes I have come across: One family dressed up as the Six Days of Creation:
white and black for Day One (light and dark); blue for Day Two (sky and sea);
flowers for Day Three; sun, moon, and stars for Day Four; birds or fish for Day
Five; an animal for Day Six; Shabbos Queen for Day Seven.
One family did the
characters from the Marvelous Middos Machine: Shnooky and Shlumpy, Shapiro, Dr.
Middos, and Dizzy.
One mom came in to
the costume gemach wanting her kids
to be Disney characters, but her adorable five-year-old decided he wanted to be
a chasid with the shtreimel and bekesha. I wanted to make both the little boy and the rest of
family happy. They choose Disney’s Minion characters, and he became the rabbi with
his minyan!
A family did an insurance
theme. One of the children was the green Geico gecko; one member of the family
was the doctor, and the others represented car, home, and money.
Down Memory Lane
I’ll take you on a tour of the various themes
we did for the first years of our family, including how they came about and how
we incorporated our mishloach manos.
In 1997, we were newlyweds
and decided to do Mishenichnas Adar
Marbim B’simcha. This theme actually came about at the very last minute. My
husband and I were talking about Purim and costumes a few days before Purim. My
response was something like, “I am not dressing up.” He said to me, “You are not dressing up; we are dressing up.” (It is years later
now, and I think maybe he regrets that comment.) We decided to wear our
matching boy and girl smiley-face T-shirts and matching baseball caps. We
bought some smiley-face accessories at Party City to add to our mishloach manos to tie them in to our
costumes.
In 1998, we did Pooh and Friends. My husband was a big
Winnie the Pooh admirer. During one of our Target runs we found denim baseball
caps with Winnie the Pooh and Tigger on them. We then found two different Winnie
the Pooh and friends ties. Our costumes were simple denim shirts, black bottoms,
and the Winnie the Pooh tie and baseball cap. Our mishloach manos were
simple: Still holding onto the 1980s paper plates custom, we found Winnie the
Pooh birthday plates, which we filled with honey cake and other honey treats.
In 1999, we did Clowning Around. By this time, we were blessed to be parents, and I had the
idea that for our baby’s first Purim, he should be a clown. I went to Perns and
found the perfect baby clown costume. I found great jester hats and big bow
ties for us. When I brought them home, my husband put on his jester hat and went
over to our son. There was an immediate smile, and my husband loved the idea.
For mishloach manos, I found the
perfect clown tins at Amazing Savings on Reisterstown Road and tied it together
with Mishenichnas Adar marbim b’simcha.
In 2000, we did Mickey and Company. I don’t remember how
the theme came about, but I had this idea about Mickey Mouse. I found an
adorable Mickey Mouse costume for my toddler. My husband had a tuxedo that we
had gotten on sale for a black tie wedding. so we got Mickey ears and a red bow
tie for him. I went to Joann Fabrics and got some red-and-white polka dot
fabric, which a neighbor helped me make into an apron and matching bow for the
ears. I found Minnie and Mickey Mouse glasses at Amazing Savings and filled
them with red and white food. I also found a Mickey cookie cutter and made simple
cookies.
In 2001, we were Dalmatian Dogs and Firefighters. The Disney
store had a sale after Halloween; I got adorable Dalmatian costumes for the
kids. We wore blue sweatshirts and fire hats. I packed the mishloach manos in a fire hat, with hot potato chips, a bottle of water (to put out the fire),
and a few other things: simple but cute.
In 2002, we were Sailors for the mazal of Adar, dagim (fish).
This was a year when we felt we couldn’t splurge on costumes. I had bought the
kids matching sailor outfits for Yom Tov, so I added sailor and captain hats,
and voila! For mishloach manos I
bought small fish bowls and put in jelly, fish tuna, water, and some other
treats.
In 2003, it was Donald Duck time. Again, I found Donald Duck
costumes on sale after Halloween, so we did Donald Duck and “Quak’ers.” My
husband and I got Disney hats and wore denim shirts with the logo from the
Donald Duck Orange juice. For mishloach
manos, we did juice and Quack’ers.
In 2004, we were Animals and Zookeepers. I bought a giraffe
costume for my daughter (again, after Halloween), and I found someone online
(the web wasn’t as popular then) to make a custom zebra costume for my son. My
husband I were the zookeepers, dressed in khaki with straw safari hats and
animal-patterned bandanas. For mishloach
manos, I found zoo-themed shopping
bags on Oriental Trading Company and did all zoo-related items: banana Laffy Taffy,
animal crackers, and water, etc.
In 2005, we
impersonated the UPS: United Purim
Service. This was years before the costume companies produced a UPS
costume. I looked for used UPS uniforms on eBay and found out that you can’t
buy the uniform due to potential fraud, but I was able to I contact the sellers
and made a few private transactions for four sets of UPS uniforms. Since my
children were only four and six at the time, I had the tailor shorten the two
smaller uniforms. I hadn’t realized that Purim that year fell out on a Friday.
It worked out very well, because we delivered our mishloach manos Thursday night, UPS style, in a little brown box
with packaging labels and a sticker stating, “Don’t open till Purim morning.”
The mishloach manos had all-brown items, such as a brownie, Coke, and brown Laffy
Taffies. We tossed the boxes on people’s porches without knocking. It made our
Friday Purim day less rushed and more enjoyable.
Do Your Own Thing
I hope you readers
enjoyed the tour of our Purim theme adventures. You are welcome to copy the
ideas. For more ideas and handy resources, there is a Facebook Group about Purim
themes and ideas for mishloach manos! You can also try www:kosheronabudget.com/101-mishloach-manot-ideas/.
Pinterest is good source as well.
Wishing everyone a
freilichen Purim!
Keren Reva Costume Gemach is stocked with over 1,500
costumes for all your Purim needs. Hours are every Sunday, Tuesday night, and
Motzei Shabbos until Purim. All information is on www.kerenreva.com or email
kerenreva@gmail.com.
