THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, October 19, 1994 TAG: 9410190473
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY SARAH MISKIN, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 62 lines
This Halloween you may get the gross or even the violent on your doorstep, but you're unlikely to get O.J.
Although costume retailers on the West Coast report booming sales of O.J. Simpson costumes, consisting of masks, plastic knives and football jerseys splattered with fake blood, local retailers have been unable to get them. Even if they could, some say they would not stock items in such ``poor taste.''
Things Unlimited, a Virginia Beach store, has received about 15 calls in the past week from people wanting to look like O.J. for Halloween, says cashier Faith Creed. Most of the trick-or-treaters are middle-aged, in their 40s or thereabouts, she said.
``But we are not stocking anything like that. We carry a lot of stuff but nothing evil like that. I think it is in poor taste.''
She reported three calls by noon yesterday, but the Quaker-run nonprofit store would not stock O.J. items even if they were available, Creed said.
Dudley Richardson, a sales clerk at Toys R Us in Norfolk, said that no one has requested an O.J. costume but that the store would not carry such an item in any case.
Spencer Gifts at Lynnhaven Mall would stock the masks if it could get them because they were likely to be a popular seller, said assistant manager Jerry Callis. The store has had about five calls this week from O.J. wannabes.
Betty Hermann, owner of Novelties Unlimited in Norfolk, has no qualms about stocking O.J. items but said she has been unable to get any.
``We inquired about it in case somebody tried to special-order it, but nobody had any in stock,'' she said. ``One factory had an O.J. wig, but without the mask you can't tell who it is, although you could add a football jersey.''
The store had expected Simpson paraphernalia to top the Halloween list this year because topics in the media spotlight usually are the most popular, Hermann said.
In Southern California, according to reports in The Chicago Tribune, the Ragztop-Vintage store has sold about 20 Simpson masks at $20 each. Another store sells a full costume for $50.
According to The Associated Press, other O.J. accessories selling include Afro wigs and black-and-white prison shirts with No. 32 on them - the number Simpson wore on his football jersey.
Step In Time, a store in Orange County, Calif., said its range of O.J. masks had been produced on a small scale by a private individual. With a $70 price tag, the masks had created more interest among the media than customers, said manager Dena Teeter.
``I have not sold any to a customer who has walked into my store. Someone in Detroit called and wants me to ship him one.''
News of the costumes has upset members of Nicole Brown Simpson's family. The Los Angeles Daily News quoted her sister, Denise Brown, as saying the costumes were in extremely bad taste and had no redeeming value for society.
``Murder and domestic violence is no laughing matter, and the total disrespect for grieving families in general is appalling.'' by CNB