The Best Lone Ranger Costume was on the Radio

One of the great things about radio was that costumes somehow didn't mean that much. Other than the mask, we are left to our own imagination to decide what the Lone Ranger is wearing. We are pretty sure that he is wearing spurs because we can sometimes hear them when he walks. Sometimes we are told that he is wearing a disguise, often make-up that includes a beard. It is hard to imagine that the bad guys cannot recognize his voice. Listeners usually did.

When the Lone Ranger made the move to the small screen, he had to have a costume we could identify. The mask and the obligatory White Hat were not going to be enough. Creator George W. Trendle personally selected actor Clayton Moore to portray the Masked Man, even though Moore had to work hard to sound like the Lone Ranger from the radio,

At least seven different actors played the Ranger on the radio. There were several more credited with the role in movies and serials, but the actor most closely identified with the role will always be Moore. Part of Moore's success was based on the fact that he became the character. Many who find success in a role designed to appeal to kids are often extremely different people when the cameras are not rolling, but Moore very publicly did all he could to follow and promote the moral code set by his character.

The morality of a fictional character is a difficult thing to espouse. The Lone Ranger was a Western, set in a period of history filled with myths and legends for the American Psyche. However, nowhere in reality or myth do we expect to see a hero in a baby blue jump suit!

Moore's costume was not a jumpsuit, of course, but it sometimes appeared to be so. The shirt and the trousers were made from the same fabric, and cut so as to flatter Moore's manly physique. The trousers were tucked into the barrels of the Ranger's boots, another no-no for Western wear.

Several items worn and used by Moore in the TV series have appeared in memorabilia auctions, including full costumes, white hats, and the custom made two-gun holster rig, featuring genuine aluminum silver bullets. Moore would often handed out the bullet replicas during personal appearances.

After the series went off the air, Moore continued to make personal appearances as the Lone Ranger, often in costume and always promoting the Ranger's code of ethics. In 1979, a production company was making The Legend Of The Lone Ranger, and insisted that Moore not appear in costume. Moore sued for the right to use the full costume, but lost. He continued to appear by making changes to the outfit, notably substituting a pair of dark Foster-Grant sunglasses for the iconic mask. (The mask used in the TV series was created by Moore for his own use. It was made of plaster of paris formed to his face. When the plaster hardened it was covered with purple felt, purple looked more like a black mask when filmed in black and white than a black mask would have.)

The new Lone Ranger movie was released in the Summer of 2013 has thankfully abandoned the baby blue costume. Publicity stills show Armie Hammer as the Ranger dressed in a white shirt and Victorian era frock coat. The really questionable costume choice seems to be Johnny Depp's portrayal of Tonto, featuring white face paint with black stripes, and a stuffed crow worn as a headpiece. Whether this better suits the character than Jay Silverheels' almost generic buckskins and fringe remains to be seen