I came across this vintage Halloween costume minus the mask, but I loved the artwork on it. It screamed '50's Monster Movie to me. The red eyes, the fangs, the blood(?).
A closeup of that fabulous art.
I was at a loss as to the company that made it and the mask that would have come with it, so I posted it to a "Vintage Monster Toy" Facebook group I belonged to and it didn't take long for someone to reply back with this:
It's a different smock, but essentially the same artwork, although much less colorful than mine.
Someone else noted that it was unmistakably done by Ben Cooper artist Frank Romano. That struck a memory with me and I realized I had watched a documentary on Ben Cooper several years ago and they had interviewed Frank Romano (he has since passed).
After serving in the Navy during WWII, Frank answered an ad in the paper for a position as artist at Ben Cooper, Inc., and was interviewed by Ben Cooper himself. Legend has it, Cooper challenged Romano to paint his best devil that night using only 4 colors and bring it back the next day.
He delivered this (or something very similar, this was a 2017 reproduction done by Frank) and was instantly hired.:
Image courtesy of tumblr
Romano would go on to work for Ben Cooper for the next 27 years producing some of Ben Cooper's most iconic images.
Image courtesy eBay
Image courtesy eBay
Image courtesy eBay
Image courtesy eBay
Image courtesy eBay
Image courtesy eBay
Image courtesy eBay
Image courtesy of 13th Dimension Blog
Frank Romano passed away in 2021 at the age of 97 leaving behind beloved memories of Halloween for countless children.
No comments:
Post a Comment