Halco-- the forgotten Halloween Costume Maker

[mjaycox]

I wanted to share these pieces from my collection as Halloween draws near.

No longer as famous as Ben Cooper or Collegeville, Halco was in its day the premier manufacturer of kids Halloween costume. Perhaps their most famous was a Little Orphan Annie costume that featured prominently on a recent episode of "Antiques Roadshow."

I only have three Halco costumes in my collection, though I hope to one day have more. They are "Frankenstein" with a great Glenn Strange likeness but a generic suit which says "Monster Man."  A Phantom of the Opera with a terrific James Cagney Phantom mask, and an image of Bela Lugosi as Dracula on the costume body (!). And finally, a Frankenstein which uses the same mask as the first costume, but with a different paint scheme, and a gorgeous suit showing a Chaney Jr. Frankie fleeing the flames of Ghost of Frankenstein.

I don't know how many official, gorgeous looking monsters they made. I hope to discover more. I am dying to see what they would have done with a Wolf Man. But for now, please enjoy these. 

Frankie #1





Phantom of the Opera







Frankie #2









Beast witches,

Matt Jaycox

[raycastile]

That second Frankie is probably the best old-style Frankenstein Halloween costume I've ever seen.  I love it!  I've tried to add Halcos to my collection, but good ones just never turn up.  I know they're out there, but I never see them on ebay.

[packy120353]

I had Halco on my radar for a long time. They made some nice toy guns too. Then I forgot about them...!  I may have a Halco Wolfman and a couple other Monster revisions -tomorrow I'll check and add a pic (just up to let the dog out)

[roheimiana]

Matt, isn't Frankie #2 the same one which sold on eBay two days ago?

http://cgi.ebay.com/Vintage-Boxed-Halco-Halloween-Costume-Frankenstein_W0QQitemZ350106894999QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item350106894999&_trkparms=72%3A1205%7C39%3A1%7C66%3A3%7C65%3A12%7C240%3A1318&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

If you were the winner, my heartiest congratulations! I watched this auction with interest because a friend was bidding but he got left behind in the dust.

This mask has the special quality I cherish in the best vacuforms – they're so colorful they remind me of blowmolds with a light inside them when, in fact, the near-luminescence comes entirely from the paint. A really stunning mask and costume as well!

[LonMadnight]

I 've heard very little about Halco. It would be interesting to get a listing of all the costumes they produced. They did a Green Lantern costume around '66, but I'm not aware if there were any other super-heroes.

[mjaycox]

They also did the Phantom and Dick Tracy and ManDrake the Magician.

Since they weren't as large a company as Ben Cooper or Collegeville, (Halco stands for J. Halpern and Co., not "Halloween Company" as has been erroneously reported in the past), records are decidely harder to come by. However,  some catalogs do exist and survive today. They seem to have gotten on the astronaut craze like everyone else, and pirates, and they did Beatniks, and the Kennedeys. They did licensed Universal Monsters, as well.

Of note, the Phantom of the Opera costume appears to have been made after the Hammer film as the lettering on the suit lifts the titles from one of the Herbert Lom posters.  The Dracula image on the suit, as well as the medallion and evening jacket motif lead me to believe that they simply converted existing Dracula suit patterns into the Phantom with the addition of  some silk screened lettering.

I would love to see what the Dracula looked like. The sculpts are so good on the masks. It makes me think they might have done a nice "Abbott and Costello-ey" Bela.

Matt

[Devlin]

Halco also made the mean-looking fleshtone Frankie mask with the big protruding lower canines, generally packaged as "Monster Man."  They had a really gorgeous fake Creature mask as well (I've never seen evidence of its having a costume to match). For the record, Kusan is the same company.

[raycastile]

Wow, I didn't know Kusan and Halco were one in the same.  I've got three Kusan costumes.  I love their 70s masks with those oblong boxes.

[hhwolfman]

Man, those are real cool.

[Devlin]

Okay, so here's the "Monster Man" mask:


Here he is that time he had jury duty (talk about "twelve angry men!"):


Here's the Halco "Sea Monster" mask:


...and here it is as it appears in the 1967 Halco catalog:



SPECIAL BONUS! The somewhat earlier  Halco "Zombie" costume:





Okay...I know it's Frankenstein...YOU know it's Frankenstein...but J. Halpern & Co. say it's a "Zombie". So why fight City Hall? It's a Zombie.

[packy120353]

Nice Monster Man action! Here's one the same but different  -



and with two costumes -



A little closer - I agree, you and I both know it's Frankenstein but aka Monster Man (wink wink)! Even has the fur vest under the armor plating!...man your 'mask line' reminds me of mine, Thanks for sharing Devlin!

[Devlin]

I believe that mask is the "Pak-O-Fun" version, that came packaged in a vinyl treat bag. They're all wider, flatter masks adapted to fit their packaging--the only one I have is the Devil.

[latex creep]

FANTASTIC THREAD Matt!

You KNOW I love 'em!

I have the two Frankenstein masks (non-fanged or angry) but, not the gorgeous costumes. I especially love the recent version that sold on ebay that you have. The Phantom mask is just beautiful....and that costume with Lugosi...no words...

I hope the other member finds his Wolfman and treats us all.

I assumed that Morlock mask was a Ceasar version...interesting to know it is actually a Halco. Also, that sea creature was reused by Ben Cooper for the Dragon costume.

[caseyam]

I recently acquired a Halco costume from 1955, the Leopard, child's size medium, in the original box, with a dated receipt.
Never worn.
Anyone know the value or where I can find a source for this?

Thanks

[Hepcat]

Well since you already own it, what does it matter how much it's "worth"? You don't need to rebuy it again.

No longer as famous as Ben Cooper or Collegeville, Halco was in its day the premier manufacturer of kids Halloween costume.

Why then is Halco no longer as famous as the others? What happened?