With literally hundreds of different Frankenstein monster masks having been produced through the years, the character remains one of the most popular to be represented in latex form. While some have more significance than others, the conversation usually starts here, as the Don Post Glenn Strange Frank is arguably the greatest Frankenstein mask of them all. It also happens to be my personal favorite of all the Calendar mask monsters, which is rather odd, as is that I have always preferred the Karloff monster on the screen. But in mask form, the Strange Frank has far more character and history!
Depending on the variation of the mask, and your source of information, production on the mask is said to have begun production between 1963-64, but could have been as late as 1965. The initial sculpture was made from a life cast of Glenn Strange from the movie Abbott and Costello meet Frankenstein, and has been dubbed the "Smooth" Frank due to it's smooth forehead. This version is incredibly rare as the mask was produced in limited in very limited quantity, as the mask was too small for most heads, and the Strange Frank was re-sculpted by Pat Newman. It is the Newman re-sculpt which appears in the famous
Monster Calendar.
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| Don Post "Smooth" Frankenstein |
The mask saw a brief re-issue in 1975-76. And finally, another re-issue (and re-sculpted) 300 copies were released in 1998 with the calendar re-issue series.
There's some great history provided in this clipping from the Halloween Society's
All Hallows Eve Companion , the Strange Frank was the featured mask in the Classic Corner from issue #1.
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| All Hallows Eve Companion Classic Corner from issue #1 |
The above clipping offers more background on the mask. Some similarities & discrepancies can be found between the two write ups which cloud the history of the Strange Frank.
Here are some photos I've collected of the Strange Frank mask that over the years. It's quite amazing to see the different custom paint schemes between these!
Disclaimer: I have no recollection of the source of these photos. If the owner of a photo wishes that they be removed, please let me know and I will gladly remove them from the blog. I post these purely for documentation purposes. Although I have grouped these images for ease of viewing, all images are copyrighted by their respective owners. Enjoy!
I am fairly confident that all three of these are from the same collector. Any info as to the owner and the artist(s) who customized these would be appreciated!
Beautiful vintage-style gray paint scheme
Legendary calendar photo
My personal copy of the 1998 re-issue
That concludes our look at the Don Post Strange Frank. I'll try to post at least one featured mask like this every month. If you missed the first featured mask post and write up on the Topstone Mummy,
you can read about it here.
