John Waters Unveils His Own Line of Face Masks

John Waters has created a line of face masks to wear during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Waters joined a California-based company to offer officially licensed John Waters themed-merchandise, including cotton masks displaying an image of the lower half of his face, according to Baltimore Fishbowl.

Atomic Books in Hampden is one of the only retailers in the country that has an agreement to sell the masks. Co-owner Benn Ray said, "We sold close to 100 of them within about 24 hours of putting them on our website. We thought it would be fun and cool and people would be into it. We had no idea it would have this tremendous of a response."

Under a new arrangement, Waters working with a company, Kreepsville 666, to produce and distribute an entire line of John Waters merchandise, including T-shirts, pins, buttons, wallets and purses.

"I've had lots of different deals over the years," Waters said. "I've had bumper stickers. I've had mugs. I've had T-shirts. But then [Marcus] called me. He handles Elvira and Vincent Price, you know. I thought, Well that's a good company. I do horror conventions, and I know that world. So I pretty much turned all my deals over to him."

The face masks are made of double-layered cotton fabric, with cotton bands that fit over the ears, and are "washable and reusable." They cost $18.95, but Atomic Books sells them for $18.

Atomic Books, at 3620 Falls Road in Baltimore, has had a long, friendly relationship with Waters. It's the place where he has his local book-signings and where he gets his fan mail delivered. "Atomic Books has been really great to me," Waters said. "It's my home."

Read the original story on Baltimore Fishbowl.

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