Rubber vs Latex - A Vintage Halloween Crisis

It's always heartening to find vintage rubber or latex masks and accessories at garage and estate sales these days.  Not only are the values climbing for these, in some cases, the supply is diminishing at an accelerated rate.  But I'll get into that.

I found these giant-sized rubber monster(?) feet at a recent sale.

They were made by the César costume company of France in 1982.  I previously wrote about this César mask.  By the way, since that post, I've found 2 more of the identical mask.

Your host modeling the feet. I like the blue varicose veins and various boils and blisters.  Not unlike my own feet.  Kidding.

I found this pair of rubber monster gloves at the same sale.  They are unmarked other than "Taiwan" so they likely date from the late 70's to early 80's.

This past weekend, I found this sole latex monster hand at a sale.  I couldn't leave it behind.

And here lies the topic of this post: Latex rot.  You'll notice that discolored and cracked section of the glove below along the edge.

Latex has a lifespan.  It's duration is debatable and storage conditions affect the rate, but there is a finite life for latex products.

I've seen it in masks I've found over the years, including this Topstone mask I wrote about.

Some collectors are taking action to delay the decay including "foaming" masks, hands and feet.  "Foaming" essentially is the use of a 2-part expansion foam such as Polymer Planet Urethane Pour Foam to fill a mask (or other accessories), shaping it properly, then allowing it to harden, mounting it on a rod for display.  It's advised against to use a construction expansion foam like "Great Stuff".  It's questionable whether foaming will stop the rot entirely, but along with proper storage, it should delay it significantly.

Rubber doesn't seem to suffer the same fate as latex, particularly the thicker rubber items such as those produced by César, although they will deform and harden if stored in non-climate controlled areas.