5 Educational Halloween Costumes

posted by Mark on October 30th, 2008

This Halloween, why not put your education to work by wearing costumes that are not only entertaining but also teach people a thing or two? Here are five suggestions:

Costume: Roald Amundsen
Who is he?: Norwegian explorer
Claim to fame: First person to reach to South Pole and sail through the Northwest Passage (not at the same time).
Talking point: “You know, I once flew over the North Pole in a dirigible.”
Costume: Eskimo-like hooded parka with a wrinkly, weather-beaten face. Try keeping ice cubes in your pocket to make sure your handshakes are realistically frigid and to prevent heat exhaustion from the aforementioned parka.

Costume: Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
Who is he?: German philosopher and mathematician
Claim to fame: Invented differential and integral calculus.
Talking point: “You’d never guess by looking at me, but I’m the historian for the House of Brunswick.”
Costume: Grow shoulder-length hair, then get a Pollyanna perm — or steal a judge’s wig, whichever is more time-efficient. Dress like Benjamin Franklin and develop a taste for bratwurst and industrial techno music.

Costume: Ned Ludd
Who is he?: British textile worker
Claim to fame: Namesake of the early 19th century Luddite movement, during which textile workers destroyed the textile machinery that was displacing them.
Talking point: “There’s a good chance that I’m mythical.”
Costume: Something resembling a muumuu. Become incensed when anyone uses any form of technology. Angrily grab and smash any cell phones, digital cameras or pacemakers, decrying their usurpation of good old-fashioned human sweat.

Costume: John Stuart Mill
Who is he?: British economist
Claim to fame: Popularized laissez-faire economic policy, proposing minimum governmental interference in the economic affairs of individuals and society.
Talking point: “I co-founded the first women’s suffrage society. What’s your sign?”
Costume: Shave your head and grow muttonchops. Act paranoid and overprotective of your property, accusing everyone you meet of being a “G-Man.”

Costume: The Antonine Plague
What is it?: Ancient pandemic
Claim to fame: Killed up to 5 million people between 165 and 180 AD, including Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (pictured).
Talking point: “I’m highly contagious!”
Costume: Since the disease was most likely either the measles or smallpox, cover yourself with spots — or even better, pustules — develop a fever somehow (knit cap?) and make facial expressions suggesting you have diarrhea.