Dressing Up Halloween: The Story of Ben Cooper Inc.

The nostalgia of those classic Ben Cooper costumes of the 70s and 80s seems to be having a real moment this year, and I'm all for it. As a product of that generation, I spent many a Halloween shredding through the one-piece vinyl costumes while I struggled to see or breathe through the hard plastic masks, all while hurriedly canvassing the neighborhood trying to amass as much candy as I possibly could.

First, it was the insanely popular line of 6" Ben Cooper Costume Kids collectible figures by NECA (anybody wanna sell me a set of Wave 1 figures for anything less than the outrageous eBay flipper prices?), and now this. A full documentary on the company that changed Halloween costumes for an entire generation of kids.

Art by Austin Pardun.

HNN Productions and director Rob Caprilozzi team up to tell the story of Ben Cooper Inc. and their rise to the top of the Halloween costume industry. The trailer is full of great, old clips of their iconic costumes alongside stories from the names that were there during that time.

The documentary is available now on Amazon Prime and will probably be the best $3 you'll spend all October. I'm diving into this one immediately! Enjoy!

Retro Frankenstein Half-Mask From Spirit Halloween

So for the past few seasons, I would get really excited when I'd see the annual "Coming Soon, Spirit Halloween!" signs go up in vacant store fronts. And for the past few seasons, I would be disappointed in their offerings and walk out of the store a bit sad and empty-handed. There was just nothing there that I really wanted or needed for my particular haunt style. I just wasn't their target customer...

But fast-forward to this year, and after seeing the sign I figured I'd give it another shot. I entered the store with my son, keeping an open mind to see if there might be something, anything, that might catch my eye. But really, I went to see if I could get a costume for my son, since we are in fact having trick-or-treat this year!

As I perused the aisles, I skimmed past the usual trinkets and cheap props. But as I walked past the wall of masks, something really caught my eye...

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This amazing, retro Frankenstein half-mask! I know it isn't much, but for the first time in a long while I said, "That is cool!" A nice homage to the plastic Ben Cooper half-masks that practically smothered me to death each Halloween when I was young.

I snagged the last one off of the rack, determined to make a Spirit Halloween purchase. I also grabbed a rather cool Fortnite character costume for my son (he was stoked!), and it looks like he's set for the big night. We're both ready to go!

And with the ridiculous amount of Spirit Halloween coupons I now have, I think I'm going to go back and snag the cool retro mummy, vintage devil, and classic cat half-masks, too.

This truly is a strange year!

May The Fourth Be With You.

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away...


Halloween, 1979
Ben Cooper Darth Vader. More machine than man now. I obviously had no problem going to the dark side...

Halloween, 1980
Ben Cooper C-3PO. Protocol Droid. Human-Cyborg Relations. I also learned to say "Trick or Treat" in Bocce...

Throwback Thursday: Halloween 1978-1979

I'm continuing on with the the Throwback Thursday photos, this time revisiting Halloween of 1978 and 1979. If you haven't seen them yet, please check out Halloween, 1974-1975 and Halloween, 1976-1977. It a hilarious look back at a young boy's journey to finally find a cool and scary Halloween costume.

Halloween, 1978
When I had left off, I had finally gotten a spooky ghost Ben Cooper costume. Creepy face with an evil grin, incredible jack-o-lanterns, and I was ready to hit the neighborhood for trick-or-treat. I had finally turned the corner for cool Halloween costumes.

But then Halloween of 1978 arrived. My first year of the homemade costume.

I'm not sure if my parents and grandparents realized what they had created, but their twisted, hand-sewn version of a clown could still strike utter fear and dread in any haunt today!

Blackened eyes and garish lips on a pale white face. This clown costume was amazing! The unintended creepiness of this costume was a sure high point on the trajectory of Halloween costumes of my youth. And that pose!? A glimpse into the future haunter that I am today!


Halloween, 1979
1979 brought a new element to trick-or-treating, and that was new baby brother, Scrapes. Half way into his second year, he was deemed ready to learn the ways of the pumpkin. And he was greenlit for a cool costume right off the bat. No strange missteps for him. No weird witch capes or pink-lipped pandas. He went straight to Spider Man.

I, on the other hand, joined the millions of other children of the late 70s and got on the Star Wars bandwagon! Light sabers, Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, the Force.

The dark side.

I had no time for heroes. I became the dark lord himself, Darth Vader.

Our neighbor didn't quite get it yet, and went as a pirate. I found his lack of faith disturbing...

Regardless, the era of uncool costumes was over! The 80s ushered in a new era of Halloween costumes for me, including my favorite Ben Cooper C-3PO costume. But as I got a little bit older, I moved on to homemade costumes, including a hobo complete with a burnt cork beard and a heavy metal rocker who mistook the Star of David as a pentagram.

Check back next week for a few more hilarious and fun photos from Halloweens of my youth!

  

Throwback Thursday: Halloween 1976-1977

Last Thursday, I decided to revisit some of my earliest Halloween costumes in a heartwarming and hilarious Throwback Thursday post. This week, I want to keep things going with a quick Halloween visit to the years 1976 and 1977...

Halloween, 1976
After two years of trick-or-treating as some sort of witch, my parents finally got with the times. For 1976, I got my first Ben Cooper costume...

Umm, unfortunately... it was some kind of panda. With bright pink lips. And flowers on the shirt. And a picnic tablecloth for pants. Getting closer, but geez, mom...


Halloween, 1977
1977 was finally the year that my parents got their act together. A proper Ben Cooper costume for Halloween! And for boys even!!

Just look at it! A ghost! Spooky! I'm not sure if it's supposed to be Casper, but just look at that evil grin! 

And the only thing that could possibly top that costume would be those incredible jack-o-lanterns on the table behind me. Soooo good! And that weird brown fern. Now THIS is a proper Halloween photo from my past!!


Come back again next Thursday as we move further up the timeline, checking out Halloween 1978 and 1979. Two more classics that are sure to dazzle, amaze and horrify!!