Ben Cooper/ Collegeville book or site?

[Earth 2 Chris]

It's a great book, and Jason Young has been designing some of the packaging on the recent Mego figures.

Chris

[marsattacks666]

Here's a newly published 200 page book on the tacky yet extremely cool kids' Halloween costumes of yesteryear including a history of the Ben Cooper, Inc.:

I heard about this book through the Plaidstallions YouTube channel.

[Doh!]

Thanks for the tip! I ordered it here for about $36 shipped:

https://houseofmysterioussecrets.com/an-old-school-halloween

[Doh!]

Haven't finished reading it yet, but the pictures are awesome! I just wish the book itself was bigger: it's only about 8.25 x 5.25". I got a chuckle out of the foreword when it mentioned cutting your tongue on the small mouth hole in the masks -- I totally did that as a kid! 

As memory serves, I had:

Devil
Skeleton
Spider-Man
Tinman (with Tooter!)
Planet of the Apes Warrior
Fonzie

Great memories.

[Hepcat]

Does the book cover Collegeville costumes or is it overwhelmingly focused on Ben Cooper?

[Doh!]

Strictly Ben Coopers. I don't think I had any others as a kid so this is fine by me.

[Wolfman]

I just got a Ben Cooper Lurch. It's a cool costume that also has the Thing on it.

JP

[Earth 2 Chris]

Does the book cover Collegeville costumes or is it overwhelmingly focused on Ben Cooper?

Just Ben Cooper.

[Hepcat]

Strictly Ben Coopers. I don't think I had any others as a kid so this is fine by me.

I've learned in the past few years that Ben Cooper was the company that dominated the kids' Halloween costume market from the 1950's to the 1980's. Collegeville was a distant second. Collegeville nonetheless has its own fan base these days as evidenced by this poll:

http://www.universalmonsterarmy.com/forum/index.php?topic=20324.0

Sandman78 for one is such a stalwart Collegeville backer that he has his own shrine dedicated to Collegeville costumes:

http://www.universalmonsterarmy.com/forum/index.php?topic=15262.225

I know that Ben Cooper's offerings dominated the Halloween costume space in the major five-and-dime chains such as Woolworth and Kresge which leaves me wondering whether Collegeville's focus was on mom-and-pop retailers. Or did Collegeville which was based near Philadelphia have certain regional niches where it was particularly strong? Does anyone remember where they bought any Collegeville costumes?

While many Ben Cooper as well as Collegeville costumes appeal to me, what troubles me is that the An Old School Halloween title of the book implies broader coverage of the subject than one strictly devoted to Ben Cooper. I understand that both Jason Young and the publisher wanted the title and cover to appeal to as broad a potential market as possible, but I imagine a Collegeville fan who picked up the book would be very much disappointed/annoyed.

[Hepcat]

Just Ben Cooper.

I can personally recommend this book which provides more comprehensive coverage of kids' Halloween costumes from the last half of the 20th century:

[Doh!]

I have this book, too! Quite worth picking up.

[Dr.Terror]

The "Halloween in a Box" documentary is free on Youtube.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=cfT9kYg4bjU&t=2843s

[marsattacks666]

The "Halloween in a Box" documentary is free on Youtube.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=cfT9kYg4bjU&t=2843s

Finally.

[Doh!]

As much as I love our digital age, I wish they'd release that onto DVD or BluRay.