1982 Morris Costume Ad - Don Post Studios E.T. Mask

 

Rue Morgue Article: The Wild World of Philip Morris

 This write-up on spook show show performer and costume industry legend Philip Morris originally appeared appeared in the July 2011 issue of Rue Morgue magazine. It's a brief but fun read, and a nice reminder of Morris' many accomplishments. For a more comprehensive look at Phillip Morris' Spook Show days, give this old post and article from the Spook Show book a read.

 

Morris Catalog Monday: Don Post Calendar Reissues

Happy Monday creeps, and welcome to Morris Catalog Monday which features random scans from old Morris Costume catalogs. Hope you all had a safe and festive New Year celebration. This is the first MCM post of 2016.

To kick off this new year, let's take a trip back to the 1999 Morris catalog which featured the Don Post Studios Calendar mask reissues. Seventeen years after their release, it's hard to quantify in words just how exciting these reissues were to mask collectors. But, needless to say, this had to be the biggest news that any monster mask collector could have hoped for in a lifetime. Below is the page as it appeared in the 1999 catalog...

The pieces depicted in the ad are among the most beautiful Calendar mask copies one could ever hope to see. When this promo ad ran, the actual masks were still being produced. Therefore, the masks pictured were a combination of prototypes and pieces from private collections. Most of these masks featured eye inserts (which were not present in the production versions of these masks) and all were painted and haired by the very best in the business. Here are some higher resolution scans of the masks...

Morris Catalog Monday: 1982 Mask Catalog

Happy Monday creeps, and welcome back to the ongoing series entitled Morris Catalog Monday which features random scans from old Morris Costume catalogs. Hope you all had a jolly Christmas weekend. This will be the last MCM post of 2015.

Most of the content of the 1982 Morris mask catalog has already been posted here, here, and here, but the cover is too cool to be left behind. So here it is in it's full glory adored with an illustration from Jim Lawrence...

Morris Catalog Monday: 1999 Star Wars

Happy Monday creeps, and welcome back to the ongoing series entitled Morris Catalog Monday which features random scans from old Morris Costume catalogs. Today's MCM contains pages from the 1999 Supplemental Catalog which featured Star Wars Episode I masks as well as a life-sized C-3P0 and R2-D2...

Morris Catalog Monday: Pumpkinhead

Happy Monday creeps, and welcome back to the ongoing series entitled Morris Catalog Monday which will feature random scans from old Morris Costume catalogs. Today's MCM features a page from the 1992 Morris Catalog which depicted a variety of Pumpkinhead masks that were produced by Distortions in 1990-91... The "Standard" and "Display" Pumpkinhead were sculpted by Henry Alvarez, while the hands were sculpted by Dwight Shundo.

Morris Catalog Monday: Universal Monsters

Happy Monday creeps, and welcome back to the ongoing series entitled Morris Catalog Monday which will feature random scans from old Morris Costume catalogs. Universal Monster Masks (of the Illusive Concepts variety) are the main focus of today's MCM post. I don't know what year this catalog page was printed, but it looks like the 1990-91 line-up, which puts these among the early Illusive Concept renditions of the Universal Monsters.

Morris Catalog Monday: Unique Masks From Morris

Happy Monday creeps, and welcome to the first in a new ongoing series entitled Morris Catalog Monday, which will feature random scans from old Morris Costume catalogs. Up first is this little gem from the 1980 catalog featuring masks from Kirk Brady and Bill Nelson...

Morris Costumes Don Post Mask Ad

This Don Post "Movie Mask" ad appeared on the back of a small 5x7 booklet titled Magic as a Hobby which was written by Philip Morris. I recently acquired and scanned the booklet which I plan to post in it's entirety. Until then, here's the front and back cover...

The photos that appear in this early ad for Morris Costumes are small versions of the 8x10 promo shots of the Universal Horror "Calendar Masks". The exception being the "Smooth" Frankenstein. This particular photo can be found in this ad, but is rarely seen elsewhere.

Halloween Society Catacomb - Monsterland #7

The Catacomb article of the February 1986 issue of Monsterland Magazine featured a write-up on "the Wondrous World of Jim Lawrence". The article describes Mr. Lawrence as a mask collector, mask and monster maker, and was the wholesale manager at Morris Costumes...

Hands, Feet and Headpieces

Today is the fifth and final day in a series of posts featuring the odd ball masks found within the pages of the 83-84 Morris Costumes Mask catalog. The week winds down with the ultimate accessory to any monster mask... monster hands and monster feet (with a few random headpieces thrown in for good measure too)

 

1983-84 Cesar Vinyl Masks

Today is the fourth day in a series of posts featuring the odd ball masks found within the pages of the 83-84 Morris Costumes Mask catalog. While these Cesar masks certainly don't qualify as "monster" masks, I thought it would be nice to post and archive these for anyone who might be in search of them. Aside from the first two pages of generic characters, there are some fun celebrity  masks including Laurel and Hardy, Charlie Chaplin, Groucho Marx, Reagan, Carter, Nixon, Princess Diana, Prince Charles,  Bob Hope, Woody Alan, and Alfred E. Newman...

1983-84 Traveller's Monster Masks

Today is the second day in a series of posts featuring the odd ball masks found within the pages of the 83-84 Morris Costumes Mask catalog. Page 12 of the catalog was home to the 1983 Traveller's mask lineup. While these masks were widely considered by many to be low cost throwaways, I think they have a definite classic Halloween charm (that of the dime store variety). For those interested in more info and history on Travelers Co. Masks, check out this detailed post from the Crimson Ghost on the Halloween Mask Association.

Morris Fantasie Masks

Today is the first day in a series of posts featuring the odd ball masks found within the pages of the 83-84 Morris Costumes Mask catalog. The first two pages of the catalog featured Morris exclusive masks under the title of "Fantasie Masks" and "Fantasie Faces".

I haven't a clue who the artist was that created the Hollywood Fantasie Masks, but I am a big fan of the "Grim Reaper", "Howler", and "Mad Monk". They have a classic early 80's feel and a touch of Be Something Studios. If you have any information on these, please feel free to post a comment.

The Fantasie Faces are a different type of "mask" altogether. These latex prosthetics are described as a "totally new concept". While not quite made of the same material, I imagine these were very similar in concept to Imagineering's FACE masks.

Oddballs from the Morris Mask Catalog 1983-4

The 1983-84 Morris Mask catalog has a good number of pages devoted to oddball masks that are worth taking a look back at. Starting tomorrow I'll begin to post the pages from this catalog that have yet to make an appearance on the Blood Curdling Blog of Monster Masks.

The catalog pages are broken into 4 separate posts: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4

1992 Morris Masks Exclusives

This colorful and cartoonish assortment of masks was made available exclusively through Morris Costumes in the early 90's. The majority of the masks pictured were designed by Dominick Alvarez and were originally created at Alvarez Wax, while the "Sutured" mask was a David Smith creation that would later appear in the Death Studios' line-up. Most of these were higher priced masks with decent quality. Many years ago I owned a copy of the "Sutured" and the Uncle Creepy inspired "Dreg" which were used in my yard displays and haunts for years. Both were over sized masks that were beautifully sculpted. However, the "Raganarok" mask was always my favorite of the group...

Check out the mask gallery on the AWM site for some nice production shots of many of these masks and more, like this one of the "Melting Man"...

Image Source: Alvarez Wax

Spook Show Week Day 3: Philip Morris Article

Welcome creeps to Day 3 of the Midnite Spook Show Monster Mask Week here at the Blood Curdling Blog of Monster Masks!

Philip Morris as Dr. Evil accompanied by an Ellis Burman Zombie Mask

 

 

With yesterday's post, we left off with a mention of Philip Morris, who is widely regarded as a master showman and promoter. This article published in Haunted Attraction #17 back in 1999. The article presents an excellent retrospective and biography of Morris. Enjoy creeps...

1970s Morris Catalog

In Saturday's post,  I made mentioned that some of the masks that appeared in those ads were from this catalog. I had a chance to throw it on the scanner yesterday, and here it is in hi-res glory...

I'm not sure of the exact year this Morris costume catalog was released. When I purchased this catalog it was described as a generic "1970's Morris Catalog", so until I find out any additional info, that's how I'll refer to it here.

The highlight of the catalog is the 2000 line of deluxe masks created by R. Quinn Studios. I started a thread over a the HMA on the subject. Some of the veteran collectors there that might be able to shed further light on these.

Cover 1970s Morris Costumes Catalog

It's interesting how within a decade the Morris costume catalog went from 8 pages to well over 400!
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NOTE: A quick word on the watermarked pages. I try very hard to avoid watermarking materials that I post here. However, I have decided to  watermark as these, as they are easily reproduced on a copy machine. I want to avoid any unscrupulous sellers reproducing this catalog to sell as an original. I respect the hobby too much for materials found here to be reproduced and sold to unsuspecting buyers. So kindly forgive the watermarks.

1970s Morris 2000 Line Masks