We went on a family trip out west when I was 12. One stop was Las Vegas. Not always a lot for a kid to do in Vegas, at least not in 1980. They had Circus Circus and that was about it. We found a face painting clown. She would face paint a clown face on us for $5 each. Me and my cousin Jackie both got our faces painted and didn't want to wash it off. We loved it! We wore them all that day.
I wonder if the face painting phenomena started with the clowns?
I'll attach the picture. I'm the one on the left.
