Saturday, October 13, 2018
Spook Town Devil Halloween Costume
Another recent addition to my vintage Halloween kid costume collection is this snarling Devil from the 50's? 60's? 70's? --anybody know? --with a beautifully designed haunted house window box, and a seriously terrific, Matt Fox-esque costume chest illustration. One of the better devil masks I've seen too, with colorfully menacing, fanged face and crazy eye make-up. I mean, nobody is going to mistake you for the real Beelzebub, but you'll sure give 'em a run for the money (and candy) as you creep along a darkly lit, leaf covered sidewalk on All Hallows Eve!
Quite awesome!
ReplyDeleteNow the infernal question that needs answering-
ReplyDeletewhich would make the best blogger image, the mask or the costume chest illustration?
Someone somewhere once said that the Devil doesn't appear as fire and brimstone, but as everything you would ever want. If this is true then wouldn't that make ol Scratch the first Advertiser in history? Mad Men eat your hearts out.
That's staggering.
ReplyDeleteWhen I saw the 'Spook Town' header, I immediately thought of the Lemax 'Spooky Town' sets - the only reason I ever go to a Michaels!
So, how collectable will those be down the line? ;)
"... the Devil doesn't appear as fire and brimstone, but as everything you would ever want..."
ReplyDeleteWell, I want this vintage costume really really bad. So there's a religious conundrum for you.
This thing is great!
So is this some off-brand, then? I was wondering when I fist saw it, since it doesn't look like the Cooper or Collegeville devil costumes I've seen. I mean, over the decades there have been lots of those, and I am certainly no expert, but this one is new to me. I can't see any manufacturer listed on the box, though I know that sometimes packaging was licensed to certain retailers. For example, if this was sold at Woolworth's, it might might have a retailer sticker and not also say "Ben Cooper." But this thing is dynamite, and I want to see the company's other stuff (assuming there is any). I'll certainly be interested to hear the update when and if someone has the dope on this thing's provenance.
Oh I get it. Spook Town is a Ben Cooper brand. I can't believe it doesn't mention Ben's name on the box. Anyway, looking over some period catalogs, it's hard to find anything just like this in the standard Spook Town monster pages. But check out this page from the 1968 catalog. That's the usual, smiling Spook Town devil on the top row of the right hand page (#300 series). But is that your guy at the end of the top row on the left hand page (#1201 series)? Going by the hair curl and especially the costume art I'd say yes, but the scan is just blurry enough to keep me unsure of myself.
ReplyDeleteThese were around in the early 1960s (as was I).
ReplyDeleteThis one's in nice condition.
Very cool. I'd agree with the other comments. Box design screams 1960's.
ReplyDelete