And the West is History: Groucho Glasses Event at Snowdown – 1988

When a 1987 Snowdown-themed rubber alligator sold in the hundreds, the Snowdown committee realized a themed product could help finance the annual event that started in 1979. For 1988, the theme “There’s Snow Business Like Snow Business” prompted organizers to sell Groucho Glasses (with black rims, big nose and mustache) during the event. When 1,300 were sold, the committee organized, as part of the celebration, a Guinness Book of World Records attempt to have the most people gathered wearing the Groucho Marx disguises. Originally hoping for 1,500 participants, then 1,000, the event finally drew 462 people, which still set the mark, as none had been established previously. In 2003, the record was broken in Michigan when 800 people gathered. – Ed Horvat for Animas Museum, edhorvat@animasmuseum.org(Catalog Number: 02.72.115 from the La Plata County Historical Society Photo Collections)