At Least Missoula and Billings Have This in Common

I don't think anyone really knows where the rivalry between Missoula and Billings actually got started. It could have been a fight between a logger and a cowboy over whether trees or cows were worth more money. Maybe it's just the standard East vs West disputes that most Western states with mountains down the middle have experienced over the decades.

But we've finally found something the two cities have in common. That Barbie is the coolest.

And every kid hitting your porch, no matter the age or the neighborhood, will likely be leading a parade of pink.

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Every year the geeks at Google produce their "Frightgeist" index, which summarizes search trends to give us an idea of the most popular Halloween costumes.

And being just a few months away from last summer's "Barbie mania" after the movie's release, did anyone really think that she wouldn't be the #1 pick for people trying to sport the perfect outfit?

Barbie under the Big Sky

Certainly not across the country, where Barbie has dethroned "witch" as the most popular costume search. And maybe that makes "ordinary" what Missoula and Billings have in common because Google says that's also the top costume search in both cities.

Mattel

Other top Montana picks include "Witch", Pennywise, "It" and "Bluey", which is a pretty weird combination if you stop and think about it.

Nationally, Barbie and Ken are the top couple's costumes, which guarantees awkward moments at a few parties.

But Montana isn't all about Barbie

Google's map reveals some rather… odd… costume shopping out there too. In Great Falls, the top costume in the "professional" category is "Clown", while Glendive is obsessed with dressing up as a "ringmaster", and Butte-Bozeman wants to celebrate as fairies.

That leaves it up to Helena to go traditional, where the top costume search is "horse", and since we're building up for a political year, maybe that's "of a different color."/

Come to think of it, would a Barbie House cost more in Missoula or Billings? Sorry, I just started another argument.

Happy Halloween!

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