The Famous Faces Costume & Mask was produced by Ben Cooper, Inc. in Brooklyn, New York, USA in 1986. The costume and mask are designed to be worn by children as a Halloween costume. fully licensed by King Features Entertainment Inc, themed around the Defenders of the Earth cartoon series released in 1986.
Ben Cooper, Inc. was created by Ben Cooper in Brooklyn, New York, USA in 1937. Taking control of A.S. Fishbach, Inc. who were licensed at the time to produce Halloween costumes for Walt Disney characters such as Snow White, Donald Duck and Mickey Mouse.
In 1942, Ben Cooper, Inc. and A.S. Fishbach, Inc. formally merges, with the Ben Cooper, Inc. name adopted. They mainly produced costumes themed around ghosts, devils, skeletons, and witches specifically for the Halloween period. In the 1950s, they produced costumes featuring popular television characters including Davy Crockett, Superman, Zorro and more.
In the 1960s and 1970s, Ben Cooper, Inc. grew into one of the biggest costume producing companies, predominantly competing against Collegeville and Halco. At this time, they were producing costumes featuring popular comic book characters such as Wonder Woman, Spider-Man and Batman.
Financial losses in other business ventures in the pharmaceutical industry in the 1980s saw Ben Cooper, Inc. face financial difficulty, however they bounced back towards the end of the 1980s. The company slid back into financial trouble in the 1990s before being purchased in 1991 by Rubie’s Costume Co. who retired the Ben Cooper, Inc. name.
The Famous Faces Costume & Mask was sold in retail stores throughout the USA in a cardboard box with a lift off lid. The colorful lid contains a plastic see through window showcasing its contents. The front, back and internal of the cardboard box can be seen below.
The side of the cardboard box lid can be seen below, detailing its contents, marking the Famous Faces Costume & Mask as product number ‘813’.
The wearable costume is made in Taiwan, whilst the mask is made in the USA. The costume is packaged in a see through plastic bag and is made of flame retardant vinyl fabric, coming as a one piece costume designed to be worn over other clothing. The semi-hard plastic mask is hand painted with holes found in the eyes, nose and mouth areas. The mask contains a white elastic band which is stapled on each side of the mask, making it easy to wear and remove as required.
The words ‘The Phantom’ and ‘Defenders of the Earth’ are printed on the front of the costume, which also contains an image of the Phantom with crossed arms. Both the costume and mask contain the year of manufacture and copyright information. A closer look at the paper card inserted with the costume can be seen below.
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