Ben Cooper (company)

Ben Cooper, Inc.

Company type	Privately held
Founded	1937
Founder	Ben Cooper, Sr.
Defunct	1992
Headquarters	Brooklyn, New York (1937–1991); Greensboro, North Carolina (1991–1992)
Area served	United States
Products	Halloween costumes, Toys

Ben Cooper, Inc. was a privately owned American company established in 1937 that specialized in producing Halloween costumes from the late 1930s through the late 1980s. It ranked among the top three Halloween costume producers in the United States from the 1950s until the mid-1980s. The company's affordable plastic masks and vinyl smocks became emblematic of American Halloween celebrations during the 1950s to 1970s. Ben Cooper has been recognized as the "Halston of Halloween" and also referred to as the "High Priest" of Halloween.

Corporate history

A translucent mummy mask for Halloween sold by Ben Cooper, Inc. during the 1960s.

Ben Cooper, Sr., born in 1906 on New York City's Lower East Side, initially pursued accounting studies and briefly attempted a career as a songwriter before launching a theatrical costume business in 1927. He contributed designs for costumes and stage sets at notable venues including Harlem's legendary Cotton Club and various editions of the Ziegfeld Follies.

As live theater declined during the 1930s amid the Great Depression, and with Halloween gaining popularity, Cooper founded Ben Cooper, Inc. in Brooklyn, New York, in 1937. That same year, his company took over A.S. Fishbach, Inc., which held licensing rights to create costumes based on characters owned by The Walt Disney Company, such as Donald Duck and Snow White. These Disney-themed costumes were marketed under Fishbach's Spotlight brand. The two entities officially merged and incorporated as Ben Cooper, Inc. on December 8, 1942.

By the late 1940s, Ben Cooper, Inc. had become one of the nation’s foremost Halloween costume manufacturers. Its products typically featured thin fabric with silk-screened images on the front and were priced under three dollars. The company distributed its costumes through major retailers including J. C. Penney, Sears, Woolworth's, and various five-and-dime stores. Costumes often retailed for approximately $1.25 at that time. Traditional Halloween figures—such as devils, ghosts, skeletons, and witches—were among the best-sellers then. In the 1950s, characters from television like Davy Crockett, Superman, and Zorro gained popularity.

Responding to growing parental concerns about safety during that decade, Ben Cooper introduced its "Glitter Glo" line featuring dresses and jumpsuits adorned with blue glitter designed to reflect car headlights for increased visibility. The company also capitalized on the widespread admiration for President John F. Kennedy and First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, although thousands of masks had to be destroyed following Kennedy’s assassination in November 1963.

A Ben Cooper costume and mask from 1977 depicting the character C-3PO from the Star Wars franchise.

Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, Ben Cooper stood alongside Collegeville and H. Halpern Company (Halco) as one of the "big three" players in Halloween costume manufacturing. The company earned a reputation for rapidly securing licenses for popular film and television characters to bring them to market promptly—for instance, licensing Spider-Man in 1963 when he was relatively unknown and acquiring rights for the Batman character in 1964. Notably, Ben Cooper was the pioneer in licensing Marvel superheroes for costume production.

The firm produced widely popular masks of political figures such as Richard Nixon during the late 1960s; these remained best-sellers alongside their Ronald Reagan masks well into the late 1980s. Anticipating future demand, they released a mask of George H. W. Bush in 1987 before his presidential election victory. By 1979, Ben Cooper remained the largest Halloween costume manufacturer in America; that year it also launched its first costume based on a character from an R-rated film—the creature from Alien.

The early to mid-1980s brought significant financial challenges to Ben Cooper, Inc., largely due to a national scare following the Tylenol poisonings in September 1982 where seven deaths occurred after cyanide-laced capsules were found. This incident caused widespread parental fear leading to a sharp decline in Halloween celebrations and costume sales that took several years to rebound from.

In response, Ben Cooper joined forces with eight other manufacturers of Halloween-related products to form the Halloween Celebration Committee and collaborated with the Toy Manufacturers of America to publish "13 Great Ways to Celebrate Halloween," aiming to reassure parents and revive enthusiasm for the holiday.

Despite setbacks, by 1984 Ben Cooper still led U.S. Halloween costume sales nationwide. Recovery came around 1987 as sales across costumes, accessories, and makeup increased by approximately twenty percent annually.

A documentary released in 2024 by Rob Caprilozzi titled Dressing Up Halloween: The Story of Ben Cooper, Inc. chronicles this corporate journey. Within it, Frank Romano’s son—a costume designer—explains that character images printed on costume fronts were necessary because children frequently removed their masks due to discomfort but still wore them atop their heads; licensing agreements mandated that characters remain identifiable at all times.

Toys

In addition to their well-known Halloween costumes, Ben Cooper also engaged significantly in the toy market, focusing mainly on rack toy products. For instance, in 1974, they produced Planet of the Apes jigglers, which were sold individually in a counter display. The following year, 1975, saw the release of Shark!, a rubber shark toy accompanied by a rubber figure reminiscent of the popular film Jaws, although the official license belonged to Imperial Toy Corporation. In 1980, Ben Cooper introduced a series of "Marvel Super Heroes Action Figures," which were flexible "jigglers" without articulation. This collection featured characters like Spider-Man, The Thing, Doctor Strange, and the villainous Red Skull, with the latter two possibly making their toy debuts here. These figures were sold loose from countertop display boxes.

Bankruptcies and sale

Despite experiencing growth in sales during the late 1980s, Ben Cooper, Inc. was unable to avoid financial collapse. By 1988, the company's monetary difficulties had intensified to the point that numerous clients abandoned it in favor of its chief rival, Collegeville. On March 13, 1988, Ben Cooper filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. As a private entity, detailed financial information was scarce; nevertheless, one media source estimated the profit margin to be under 10 percent in 1989. On January 6, 1989, a fire destroyed the company's Georgia facility along with inventory valued between $2 million and $3 million (equivalent to approximately $Template:Inflation million to $Template:Inflation million adjusted for inflation). Following this event, both of Cooper's insurers withdrew coverage and declined payment due to alleged inaccuracies in the insurance policy. The bankruptcy court dismissed Cooper's claims against these insurers; however, Cooper appealed this decision.

Ben Cooper successfully emerged from bankruptcy proceedings in April 1989 after settling all outstanding debts with creditors.

In February 1990, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled that the insurance coverage dispute was a "core" issue appropriate for resolution by the bankruptcy court. One insurer subsequently sought review by the Supreme Court of the United States. The Supreme Court issued a per curiam ruling that identified significant jurisdictional questions raised in legal briefs. Consequently, it vacated the appellate court's judgment and remanded the case for reconsideration of jurisdictional matters. Upon reevaluation in January 1991, the Second Circuit resolved the jurisdictional issue favorably for Cooper and reinstated its earlier decision.

Shortly after this appellate ruling was finalized, Ben Cooper's management announced plans to relocate operations to Greensboro, North Carolina. At this juncture, the company employed approximately 35 full-time staff and reported manufacturing over four million costumes during the preceding year. The firm claimed dominance over roughly 70 to 80 percent of licensed character costume sales and maintained partnerships with entities such as Children's Television Workshop (creators of Sesame Street), DC Comics, Mattel, and Walt Disney Studios. The relocation aimed to position the company nearer to Southern textile manufacturers and cutting facilities to transition away from environmentally damaging vinyl costumes sourced from Asia toward more sustainable natural fabrics. Plans included investing $6 million ($Template:Inflation adjusted for inflation) into constructing a new facility in Greensboro and applying for a $600,000 Community Development Block Grant to assist with expenses and support employment opportunities for low-income workers locally.

Rubie's Costume Co

On October 30, 1991, Ben Cooper filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection once more. According to the company's CEO at that time, this second bankruptcy was triggered by relocation costs combined with economic recession effects during the early 1990s and delays in securing bank financing. Ultimately unable to sustain operations independently following this filing, Ben Cooper was acquired by Rubie's Costume Co. in 1992.

Collectibility

Ben Cooper, Inc. products continue to be highly sought after by collectors, especially the costumes that come with their original boxes and masks, which are considered the most valuable. In 2002, photographer Phyllis Galembo released Dressed for Thrills: 100 Years of Halloween Costumes & Masquerade, a book combining imagery and text that highlights several costumes created by Ben Cooper, Inc.

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