J&S Smoke Shop Halloween Costumes Boston Ad

Your ol' pal the Yellow Phantom is a serious sucker for vintage Halloween commercials. As we have now officially moved into the Fall season, I plan to post some of these television spots now and again up until Halloween. 

This commercial  from J&S Smoke Shop Halloween Costumes features a nice variety of classic Don Post Studios masks including Tor Johnson, Uncle Creepy, and the Demon. A Be Something Studios Executioner mask makes an appearance as well. Although it is listed as (1988) in the title, the masks that appear within suggest it may have been made as much as a decade an earlier. 

Random Sunday Morning Mask Pic: LIneup

Image Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/dboo/6277502813/

Magic Manor Commercial

It's a double post day with two videos that are sure to put the most stubborn creep into the Halloween spirit...

Random Sunday Morning Mask Pic: Hooded Fear

Here's a shout out to Dr. Lady's last Mask Fan Attic which featured the Be Something Studios Hooded Fear Mask...

Early 90's Costume Shop Photos

Here are a number of shots from an unknown costume shop taken in the early 1990s. Some fun masks can be found lining the walls, including a hand full of Be Something Studios pieces...

Vintage Trix or Treat Halloween Sign

An October Visit to Fantasy Costume Headquarters

Fantasy Costume Headquarters is by far Chicago's largest and longest running costume and mask shop. The building itself occupies almost a full city block and is massive. Within FCHQ, there is a large room dedicated just to masks. The masks are lined six high, from ceiling to knee level, and wrap the entire room. My conservative estimate is that 600 masks are on display. It's truly monster mask heaven!

I tend to take two or three trips a year to Fantasy Costume Headquarters, and at least one of those trips takes place during October. My first fall trip of 2011 took place this past Thursday...

A few of the many painted windows at Fantasy Costume HDQ

This year there was an abundance of Trick or Treat Studios masks on display which was great to see!  As always, FCHQ, had a huge selection of Zagone monster masks. Zagone, and even some old Be Something Studios masks, are always well represented here. It's especially cool with Zagone being home-grown in Chicago, as well as being the last mass produced mask made in the States. My favorite part about any trip down to FCHQ is the odd assortment of old masks which occasionally make their way out of the warehouse, and out to the display for sale.

While perusing the selection, I found a Distortions Unlimited "Ancient Evil" mask buried on the bottom row in a back corner well out of sight. The mask must have been smashed for sometime, as it was warped, so I got him at a really nice discount on him. After getting it home, I spent some time working it over with a heat gun I managed to get the shape back. Here's what he looks like now...

Distortions Unlimited - Ancient Evil Mask

I also snagged up a Zagone Studios Dorian mask. I've wanted one of these since it was released back in 2007...

Zagone - Dorian Mask

In addition to these scores, Mrs. Phantom was kind enough to snap a few photos of the mask room to share...

This is about one quarter of the mask room

A sample of of the Zagone selection

Dime Store Mask Display

Imagine taking a stroll down to the local dime store and being able to grab a Shock Monster of the shelf for Halloween...

Image Source: Raymond Castile

Collegeville Costume Store

A visitor commented on yesterday's post featuring the 1961 Collegeville Costume Catalog with some pretty cool info. As it turns out, the company that used to be Collegeville has survived to this day as a flag manufacturer.  Every year for Halloween, the old factory is opened up as a costume shop in Collegeville Pennsylvania...

The store is located on the 2nd floor in the original Collegeville Costumes factory.

Source of Images: Collegeville Halloween Store Face book Page

Sonny Acres Farm Costume Shop

Yesterday was a beautiful early autumn day in the Chicago area, and I was lucky enough to find myself at one of my favorite places to visit in the fall, Sonny Acres Farm's costume shop, which is located about an hour west of the Phantom's crib. The farm itself is magical come autumn, with several barns dedicated to Halloween props, decor, and two haunted barns. In addition, there are a good number of rides and food stands for kids and families. 

Entering the farm

The day was made even more special as my niece made her first visit to the farm on her 3rd birthday. It's amazing the happy smile you can put on a child's face with a spool of cotton candy and a ride on a train. For me though, the costume shop always brings the biggest smiles. I have a history with the shop that goes back about 16-17 years, when I bought my very first Be Something Studios mask there. And a year later I picked up my second BSS mask.

The costume shop was in excellent early season form on this first Sunday of October. Lots of Don Post and Zagone masks lined the walls, including the classic Don Post "Mask", "Carlisle" and "G. Howie Burns", as well as some all time favorite Zagone monster masks such as the Alpha She Wolf and Dorian.

The pictures aren't the clearest that I've posted here, and it was tough to get the majority of the masks shot as the place was packed. But these give a glimpse of the mood and atmosphere of the shop and about half of the masks on display...

This witch has greeted visitors outside the costume shop for years!

The Sonny Acres Costume Shop