Ben Cooper Halloween Costumes

Ben Cooper Costumes, along with Collegeville costumes, were plastic costumes that usually came packaged in a rectangular box with a cellophane window that allowed you to see the mask. They also sometimes came on cardboard hangers.

The costumes were usually a reflection of pop culture icons that were popular at the time such as Mickey Mouse or Wonder Woman. Superheroes were especially popular. There were usually some generic style costumes that showed up every year such as Dracula and Frankenstein.

The costumes came with a mask that usually had larger holes where the eyes were and then two small holes for the nostrils along with a small oval along the mouth. The mask, like most cheap masks, had an elastic band that fit around the head.

The costumes also came with an apron. This plastic apron usually mimicked, somewhat poorly, the costume or wear of the character it was imitating. The apron tied around the neck with two plastic ties.

Eventually, when people began disrespecting Darwin, the costumes were seen as safety hazards and the world was filled with cloth, fairy princess outfits.

This could have been a Ben Cooper or Collegeville. I can't make out what the costume actually was. If anyone knows, let me know in the guestbook below.

Sadly, no photos exist of me in my Wonder Woman Ben Cooper costume. I loved that thing. I remember it having red earrings on the sides of the mask. Unless, of course, I imagined it. Bah.

Found these images on Ebay and the seller, rufflestclownz, was kind enough to let me use them on this lens.

Here's the costume in its box. The packaging varied depending on the licensing, it seems. For those who aren't old enough to remember (grr), Tron was a popular live action (well, for the most part) Disney film that was released in 1982. The film was riding the heels of the popular video game culture which was just really beginning to boom with the advent of Atari. Yeah. Laugh it up, Fuzzball. I've yet to see any of the boxes that didn't have the cellophane window with which you could see the mask. The mask always sat on top of the apron that came with the mask so you only saw this plastic eyeless face staring out at you.

The bottom of the box usually had the size and other information listed. As a kid, I remember there usually being on box faced out and then your Mom had to scan the bottom of the boxes under the faced out box to find your size. Ah. Good times.

And here is the eyeless mask of Bruce Boxleitner. Looks a bit like a dead Devo member, doesn't it? Few kids made it home still wearing their mask. It was annoying having your breath constantly coming back to hit you in your face which was always mingled with the smell of cheap plastic.

However, that cheap paint that they sold in discount stores was way worse. *shudder*

The inside of the mask. Remember those little nostril holes?

And last, but not least, the apron. If I remember correctly, it seems you had to "step into" the apron as it was solid for the "skirt" portion of the apron. However, the back was open and you had to tie the apron around the neck. And they always either scratched or pinched. Good times!