There are photos of my grandparents dressing up as animals for carnival back when they were living under communist rule so before the Internet. I found them when I was clearing out their house bc they moved to a retirement home. And I think if my ancestors had the ability to make photos of everything they were doing I bet someone already did the same thing before them. And since festivities like carnival also come with an easy atmosphere and quite some alcohol consumption I would not be suprised if they also did some roleplaying if they were already wearing the costumes why not.
The Internet now just brings these communities together and makes them more visible I'd say
Kikuri? Is that you?