Universal Monster Army

Well, Halloween is just around the corner so it's high time this critical question was addressed. Which of these companies' kids' Halloween costumes do you like the best?

Ben Cooper

Collegeville

H. Halpern

Other

???

When I was 7 or 8 my parents purchased a 'tiger' costume for me which I wore for two years but I basically had homemade costumes and never paid attention to company names. It was also rare for my mom to take me to Woolworth's, so I never really had the store costume experience myself.

rubies costumes!

Pretty upscale! Not much chance that your typical parent would have sprung for one of those during the Golden Age of trick or treating.

Rubies (http://rubies.com/)

Did you have one?

:o

sorry my friend i dont read about your post was of the golden age... im only 26 years and live in central america

Yeah, I guess it's for the cheap one or two use costumes that were sold in stores such as Kresge, Woolworth, Grant's, Metropolitan, Walgreen's, Zellers, etc.

;)

I definitely miss the early days, when my parents purchased a cool Ben Cooper/
Collegeville costumes. We would go to Woolworth or Kmart, and I would go crazy.
So many different and wonderful costumes. Great memories.

I voted for Ben Cooper but I don't really remember whether my childhood costumes were made by them or Collegeville.  I seem to remember having a number of Cooper costumes: Dracula, Zorro, Superman and Astronaut to name a few.

California Costumes, for reasons I will post no later than the weekend.

I had to go with Ben Cooper, because I don't recall ever owning a Collegeville, or even knowing the name until years later. I recognize some of their costumes that I saw on other kids now, but I had no idea they weren't Ben Cooper. Cooper seemed to have a lock on most of the costumes in this area, due mostly to the licenses they had. I vividly recall the boxes and boxes of Ben Cooper costumes at our local Ben Franklin's every fall.

Having said that, I rarely wore a Ben Cooper costume that my mom didn't augment or modify. Many times I wore the mask and a home-made suit (Scooby Doo, He-Man, Captain America). I still have my Ben Cooper cloth Batman suit, which I must have worn when I was 3 or 4 or so.

Chris

Quote from: Earth 2 Chris on October 25, 2012, 08:59:41 AM
I had to go with Ben Cooper, because I don't recall ever owning a Collegeville, or even knowing the name until years later....

Interesting! This other thread left me with the impression that it was Collegeville that was the biggest player in the kids' Halloween costume market:

http://www.universalmonsterarmy.com/forum/index.php?topic=15262.0 (http://www.universalmonsterarmy.com/forum/index.php?topic=15262.0)

:-\

Quote from: Hepcat on October 25, 2012, 10:22:34 AM
Interesting! This other thread left me with the impression that it was Collegeville that was the biggest player in the kids' Halloween costume market:

http://www.universalmonsterarmy.com/forum/index.php?topic=15262.0 (http://www.universalmonsterarmy.com/forum/index.php?topic=15262.0)

:-\

I think it was a toss-up between Ben Cooper and Collegevile?
Maybe both companies cornered the market? Either way, both
had really cool costumes.

As a kid, I think every costume I owned was a Ben Cooper. I would have to give BC the edge. But lately, I've been getting more and more into Collegeville. They had a lot of interesting, original designs.

Quote from: raycastile on October 25, 2012, 08:59:53 PM
As a kid, I think every costume I owned was a Ben Cooper. I would have to give BC the edge. But lately, I've been getting more and more into Collegeville. They had a lot of interesting, original designs.

A slight difference and unique.

I think I remember having more Ben Cooper than Collegeville costumes when I was a kid. Never really paid attention to the brand--was more interested in what the costume looked like.

I believe most of mine were BC but I do love Collegeville. They are both great companies and Halloween hasn't been the same with out them in my opinion. I mean to me they were ways us poor kids could wear something cool for cheap. Kids today don't really have that option.

Quote from: horror1o1 on October 26, 2012, 10:03:17 AM
I believe most of mine were BC but I do love Collegeville. They are both great companies and Halloween hasn't been the same with out them in my opinion. I mean to me they were ways us poor kids could wear something cool for cheap. Kids today don't really have that option.

I agree.

Man, that's a tough call. When I was much younger I would have probably said Ben Cooper because their licensed Spider-man and Batman costumes are absolutely iconic. They had all the big licenses. But as I get older, I appreciate the classic images created by Collegeville without using licensed characters. The licensed characters that Collegville did acquire were ones I actually wore as a child, including my very first Halloween costume, H R Pufnstuf, and Ultraman. Then there's my latest acquisition, the Ray Harryhausen Sinbad costume, that I wrote about here:

http://www.louisvillehalloween.com/halloween-in-a-box-the-store-bought-costumes-of-all-our-yesteryears/ (http://www.louisvillehalloween.com/halloween-in-a-box-the-store-bought-costumes-of-all-our-yesteryears/)

I voted Collegeville but it was a tough call. As a child I wore a Collegeville Werewolf with my twin in the Collegeville Skeleton in 1979. In 1980 I was a Ben Cooper Chewbacca from The Empire Strikes Back and my brother was Yoda. I was a Ben Cooper Hairy & Scary Dracula with my twin in a Hairy & Scary Mr. Skeleton in 1983.
I currently have:

Ben Cooper

Frankenstein Spook Town 60s

(http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m05c4v1k5B1qemxfbo1_500.jpg)

Phantom of the Opera Masquerade 60s

(http://img856.imageshack.us/img856/4194/bencooperphantom.jpg)

Dracula 80s

(http://img0.etsystatic.com/000/0/6125890/il_fullxfull.276149816.jpg)

Hairy & Scary Dracula 80s

(http://image.retrojunk.com/b24_f41f94e357.jpg)(http://www.goblinhaus.com/images/shop/costumes/DraculaHairyScaryFull.jpg)

Hairy & Scary Mr. Skeleton 80s

(http://image.retrojunk.com/cf3_717fb24cc3.jpg)(http://www.goblinhaus.com/images/shop/costumes/MrSkeletonHairyScaryFull.jpg)

Collegeville

Pumpkin with top hat Masquerade 50s

(http://img268.imageshack.us/img268/94/cos3d.jpg)

Skeleton 60s

(http://www.goblinhaus.com/images/shop/costumes/skeleton8boxLarge.jpg)

Frankenstein Spooky Spooks 70s

(http://img31.imageshack.us/img31/5341/franks.jpg)

Skeleton 70s

(http://image.retrojunk.com/27d_e2ae76e18d.jpg)(http://image.retrojunk.com/837_e854a9943e.jpg)

Werewolf 70s

(http://image.retrojunk.com/244_bcab426826.jpg)

Wolf Man Spooky Spooks 80s

(http://i1183.photobucket.com/albums/x475/osker555/IMG_20120728_183606.jpg)

Wolf Man Universal Monsters 80s

(http://i.ebayimg.com/t/VTG-1980-UNIVERSAL-MONSTER-WOLFMAN-WOLF-MAN-COSTUME-COLLEGEVILLE-SMALL-S-4-6-/00/s/MTAyNFg3Njg=/$(KGrHqEOKowE54Bo!KH)BOkQ1MV5BQ~~60_3.JPG)

Dracula Universal Monsters 80s

(http://www.plaidstallions.com/collegeville/19835.jpg)

Frankenstein Universal Monsters 80s

(http://i.ebayimg.com/t/vintage-1980-COLLEGEVILLE-UNIVERSAL-MONSTERS-FRANKENSTEIN-COSTUME-w-HAIRY-MASK-/00/s/MTAyNFg3OTg=/$(KGrHqIOKkYE5rp8jYGEBOldpgEMug~~60_3.JPG)

I don't have any Halcos or Kusan, or Grants. These aren't photos of my collection just off the web. Something is wrong with my photo hosting site.

Nice collection!

8)

Wow, wow!.Some incredible collections

Quote from: Radioactive Rod Whitenack on October 27, 2012, 02:06:10 PMBut as I get older, I appreciate the classic images created by Collegeville without using licensed characters.

I agree. That's why I too went with Collegeville.

(http://i1101.photobucket.com/albums/g434/Balticprince/General%20Album%202/collegeville.jpg)

(http://i1101.photobucket.com/albums/g434/Balticprince/General%20Album%202/Collegeville_Costumes_ad_1974.jpg)

8)

Here are a couple very cool Ben Cooper costumes though, a Creature and a Aquaman:

(http://i1101.photobucket.com/albums/g434/Balticprince/General%20Album%202/creature-ben-cooper001.jpg)

(http://i1101.photobucket.com/albums/g434/Balticprince/General%20Album%202/aqbc.gif)

8)

So who messed up the poll displays? Was this part and parcel of the recent changes made on this board? If indeed it was, so much for doing polls since the results can't be deciphered.

>:(

Quote from: horror1o1 on October 26, 2012, 10:03:17 AMThey are both great companies and Halloween hasn't been the same with out them in my opinion. I mean to me they were ways us poor kids could wear something cool for cheap. Kids today don't really have that option.

Sad but true. Of course the downtown Kresge, Woolworth, Grants, Zellers and Metropolitan stores in which many of us would have got these costumes are gone as well.

(http://images.ourontario.ca/Partners/SwiftCurrent/22429.jpg)

Very sad.

:(

(http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y260/sldn7/Conan/Oct31201314_zps34d92afe.jpg)
(http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y260/sldn7/Conan/Oct31201315_zps1f0bdb65.jpg)
(http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y260/sldn7/Conan/Oct31201317_zpsb99db9db.jpg)
(http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y260/sldn7/Conan/Oct31201319_zps2717fd9a.jpg)

The Ben Cooper Hairy and Scary Vampire and Hairy and Scary Mr. Skeleton rooted hair costumes are from 1983 from my childhood.

(http://www.retro-daze.org/images/postImages/14105014491982halloween.gif)

The Ben Cooper purple Hairy and Scary Vampire with rooted hair costume and the white face vampire (Dracula) costume are also from the early 1980s.

The Collegeville Werewolf and Skeleton with a clown on the box costumes are from 1979 from my childhood. They were available late 70s to early 80s.

(http://www.retro-daze.org/images/postImages/14104889161979halloween.gif)

The Collegeville Skull costume with a six legged spider on the forehead and an owl on the box is from the 1960s. The design ran into the late 1970s.

The Collegeville Pumpkin with a tophat is the Scarecrow or Harvest Harvey masquerade costume and comes either with a Trick or Treat costume or a scarecrow one and is from the late 1950s.

The Collegeville Frankenstein with the teeth visible and headclamps all the way across is from the 1960s this however is the reflective version with reflecta-light safety spots reissued in 1973. The design was available from the 1960s to the early 80s.

The Ben Cooper  Spook Town Costume Frankenstein with the large forehead scar and the v shaped jaw/cheek scar is from the 1960s.

The Collegeville Frankenstein with rooted hair is from the 1983s Universal Monsters line.

The Collegeville Dracula with rooted hair is from the 1983s Universal Monsters line.

The Collegeville Spooky Spooks Wolf Man is from 1983.

The Ben Cooper Masquerade Costume Phantom of the Opera is from 1969 based on the James Cagney portrayal of Lon Chaney in Man of a Thousand Faces.

 Love those photos!!! They really take me back a bit.

Love all the pics, Its hard to say what maker I like the best , I have more Ben Cooper costumes but Collegeville seem to be better made and little more detailed so I would vote for them.

Here's a couple of cool costumes

Three Stooges Moe (A monster to the other Stooges)

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v344/tonystoys/ThreeStoogesMoeCostumeBenCooper19604.jpg)

And Spook Town Skeleton Pirate?

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v344/tonystoys/SKELETONCOSTUMEbyBENCOOPERinORIGINALBOX.jpg)

I like the owl in Ben Cooper's Spook Town brand logo!

Spook Town is of course not to be confused with Lemax's present day Spooky Town Halloween collection:

Lemax Spooky Town (http://www.lemaxcollection.com/villages/spooky-town)

tynhrt

Here's a Swass-Cast episode on Ben Cooper Haloween costumes:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FrtQ539dtjU (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FrtQ539dtjU)

hmjfym

These are cool although I think Frankie had a few too many volts put through him judging by that hair! And Dracula looks a little goth emo with that hair style!  :)

(http://www.plaidstallions.com/collegeville/19835.jpg)

I agree , Halloween is not the same without these 2 costume makers on the shelf during the Halloween season, just looking at the box designs while shopping would put a smile on my face .

Sadly now everything is cookie cuter nonsense spewed from the same overseas factories made out of the same stretchy material and packed in a bag

(let's go costume companies bring back the boxes with the cool artwork! and while you're at it sell your costumes for $1.49 to $2.99) ,

I pity the kids today (and  their parents too) as costumes are either too expensive so they do without or the parents break the bank outfitting their family for the holiday

The dollar store is really the only place a family can shop for Halloween and the closest thing to the good old days as far as finding the cheapy fun chachkas

When Ben Cooper closed it's doors another piece of our childhood disappeared


(https://frankensteinlounge.files.wordpress.com/2010/11/frankielot.jpg)

(https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3528/3717656291_df8f21f0ea_z.jpg?zz=1)

(https://rottenink.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/ben-cooper-wolfman-costume.jpg)

(http://asktheebayqueen.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/vintagecostume1.jpg)

(http://wac.450f.edgecastcdn.net/80450F/comicsalliance.com/files/2011/10/costumegreenlantern.jpg)

(http://static.mommypoppins.com/styles/gallery/s3/screen_shot_2014-10-24_at_2.45.06_pm.png?itok=WQqkuDHO)

Great Pics!

Quote from: WnewCreatureFeatures on July 17, 2015, 05:15:34 PM
The dollar store is really the only place a family can shop for Halloween and the closest thing to the good old days as far as finding the cheapy fun chachkas

When Ben Cooper closed it's doors another piece of our childhood disappeared.

(http://wac.450f.edgecastcdn.net/80450F/comicsalliance.com/files/2011/10/costumegreenlantern.jpg)

Truth! And that Green Lantern costume is too cool.

8)

Ben Cooper continues to lead this one, but it's Halloween costume time again!

:)

All my local Woolworth's carried was the Ben Cooper line, so I'd have to go with that. Their Frankenstein was a pretty good likeness of Glenn Strange in A&C MEET F.

(http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6217/6260869271_9221cdeb3b_z.jpg)

I also remember having a Wolf Man, this version

(https://img1.etsystatic.com/050/0/7992421/il_340x270.673205707_d3us.jpg)

There were so many different versions of these two!

The name brand used by the H. Halpern company for costumes was of course Halco:

(https://oi1101.photobucket.com/albums/g434/Balticprince/General%20Album%203/General%20Album%203001/Halco%202_zps5khvj9ik.jpg?t=1570808751)

(https://oi1101.photobucket.com/albums/g434/Balticprince/General%20Album%203/General%20Album%203001/Halpern_zpsaki5aazi.jpg?t=1570808720)

8)

Here's a great article on the history of Halloween costumes from the early 20th century to the present:

From Pagan Spirits to Wonder Woman - CNN (https://www.cnn.com/style/article/history-of-halloween-costumes/index.html)

cl:)

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

(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/g434/Balticprince/Book_on_Halloween_Costumes.jpg)

8)

P.S. The book evidently covers only Ben Cooper's offerings.

:(

Quote from: Hepcat on October 28, 2021, 01:18:36 PM
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.:

(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/g434/Balticprince/Book_on_Halloween_Costumes.jpg)

8)

Definitely going to buy this book. Awesome.

I understand 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?

???

Quote from: Radioactive Rod Whitenack on October 27, 2012, 02:06:10 PMMan, that's a tough call. When I was much younger I would have probably said Ben Cooper because their licensed Spider-man and Batman costumes are absolutely iconic. They had all the big licenses. But as I get older, I appreciate the classic images created by Collegeville without using licensed characters. The licensed characters that Collegville did acquire were ones I actually wore as a child, including my very first Halloween costume, H R Pufnstuf, and Ultraman. Then there's my latest acquisition, the Ray Harryhausen Sinbad costume....

According to Ben Cooper Inc.'s bankruptcy filing in 1988, the company accounted for 70 to 80 percent of the licensed  character costume business. While I like the Universal monsters, superheroes and most of the cartoon characters for which Ben Cooper made costumes, I have no interest in almost any of the plethora of costumes based on situation comedy and other TV show or movie characters (e.g. Fonzie, Welcome Back Kotter, Fantasy Island, Sesame Street, Star Wars, Chuck Norris, etc.) made by Ben Cooper.

So once again, I'm sticking with Collegeville in this poll because I like a much greater proportion of Collegeville's costumes simply because Collegeville didn't tie so many of its costumes to TV shows in which I have no interest.

cl:)

While I do enjoy collecting Ben Cooper costumes of different movie and  television genres. I never
understood the popularity of the off-shoot characters. For example. Chuck Barris( Gong Show), Small Wonder(1985), and other strange character choices. Who and what demographic were those costume characters geared to.

Quote from: Hepcat on November 17, 2021, 03:05:25 PM
Does anyone remember where they bought any Collegeville costume?

'Am pretty sure I had one of those Frankensteins as depicted in Herr Hussmann's post above.
My Mom or Dad must've gotten it for me from Newberry's, our local variety store. Its likeness
to Glenn Strange even includes his distinctive cheek wart although it's not highlighted with paint.

Quote from: Sir Masksalot on November 17, 2021, 08:13:36 PM'Am pretty sure I had one of those Frankensteins as depicted in Herr Hussmann's post above. My Mom or Dad must've gotten it for me from Newberry's, our local variety store.

That though is a Ben Cooper costume. Your mom and dad getting it at a Newberry's store would have fit right into Ben Cooper's strategy of selling through chain five-and-dime stores. How/where Collegeville costumes were sold is more of a question. I can't find any first person accounts on this board of anyone buying/having a Collegeville costune as a kid.

I see though that Hills stores carried Collegeville costumes:

(https://i1101.photobucket.com/albums/g434/Balticprince/Collegeville%20Halloween-costumes-1968-630x711_zps7hbvtcex.jpg)

:)

Where I grew up, we had both a Target and Venture nearby so I'm sure my folks got the Ben Coopers at one of those places.

Sidebar: parents would never do this today, but my mom used to drop me off in the toy department of our local department store while she went off clothes shopping for 30 minutes or more. I didn't mind!

Quote from: Doh! on November 18, 2021, 01:22:30 AMparents would never do this today, but my mom used to drop me off in the toy department of our local department store while she went off clothes shopping for 30 minutes or more.

That would have been before the concept of helicopter parents was invented circa early 1990's. Almost all of us on this board were very properly free-range kids back in the day.

;)

Quote from: Hepcat on November 18, 2021, 11:26:51 AM
That would have been before the concept of helicopter parents was invented circa early 1990's. Almost all of us on this board were very properly free-range kids back in the day.

;)

Those were the fun days.

Comparing just the boxes, this one is my favourite:

(http://asktheebayqueen.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/vintagecostume1.jpg)

It has the retro old-school look with the traditional Halloween imagery I like, but it's not so retro (like back in the early 1950's) that it's too plain and thus generic. Note as well that it's sparingly printed against white cardboard stock employing just red and yellow ink as well as black (clearly to keep printing costs down). This now contributes to the retro look I really like.

Vying for second place are these four:

(https://i1101.photobucket.com/albums/g434/Balticprince/General%20Album%203/General%20Album%203001/Heckle%20ben%201%20-%20Copy_zpsxqykajot.jpg)

(http://i1101.photobucket.com/albums/g434/Balticprince/General%20Album%203/General%20Album%203001/Collegeville%20skeleton%206_zpsncljefnx.jpg)

(http://i1101.photobucket.com/albums/g434/Balticprince/General%20Album%203/General%20Album%203001/Collegeville%20Skel%201_zpsyc1cozom.jpg)

(http://i1101.photobucket.com/albums/g434/Balticprince/Collegeville%20Skel%203_zpsomaxwevo.png)

8)