Mr. Spooky Costume

I got an email the other day from Stuart Schneider, co-author of Halloween: Costumes and other Treats. Halloween is my favorite holiday and this book will be added to my ever growing collection of books on the subject.  This book shows many Halloween costumes from 1920-1970.  And wouldn't you know it, one of the costumes in the book is a Ben Cooper Walt Disney Character Costume - Mr. Spooky.  The Mr. Spooky costume comes complete with vinyl costume and plastic mask.  As you can plainly see, the Haunted Mansion logo is on the body of the costume!

So, just who is this Mr. Spooky character in the Mansion?  hmmmm?  He looks an awful lot like the early versions of the Hat Box Ghost, in my humble opinion.  What makes this such a wonderful find is that, if you're lucky, you might find one that predates the Mansion opening in 1969.  The costume in the following picture is dated 1962.   

Nice.

All photos copyright 2002 Stuart Schneider

Stuart has written many books on all kinds of collectibles, and is currently working on a new book featuring some beautiful photographs of cemeteries by Rebecca Benjamin.  Ghosts In The Cemetery should be released sometime in May, 2008.  

All photos copyright Stuart Schneider

Thanks Stuart for stopping by and for sharing a very cool vintage piece.  I've yet to see this piece on ebay, and while I'm no authority, I think its safe to say this collectible is pretty rare.