MishM*A*S*H 37: M*A*S*H Halloween Costume

In the spirit of Halloween this week, I thought it was appropriate to find something Halloween related. Despite mostly collecting items from the production of M*A*S*H, I do have some licensed products that were produced and sold during the show’s original run. In 1981, the costume company Ben Cooper released a M*A*S*H themed Halloween costume as a part of its “Famous Faces” line. The costume was targeted towards children, and I find it to be interesting for several reasons. Looking at the vinyl costume and mask, it is a little creepy (not exactly M*A*S*H knock-off DVDs from China creepy, but still). It made sense for a costume company to make a M*A*S*H costume at the height of the show’s popularity, but this costume leaves me with more questions than answers.

The M*A*S*H costume was released as part of the Ben Cooper “Famous Faces” line of costumes that included other shows and celebrities. Ben Cooper was a well known costume and toy company and made popular Halloween costumes from its founding in 1937 until it was shut down, after going through bankruptcy, in 1992. I had never heard of Ben Cooper since I was still fairly young in 1992, so I never had one of their costumes, but it was a well known company. In fact, Ben Cooper was so popular that a documentary about it, Dressing Up Halloween: The Story of Ben Cooper, Inc., was released earlier this year.

For this M*A*S*H costume, I think there are parts of it that are really cool. The vinyl outfit is made to resemble the Army fatigues worn by the cast of M*A*S*H with the olive green pants, button-down shirt, and t-shirt. The M*A*S*H 4077th logo is prominently displayed with the Red Cross and medical caduceus. The costume was a one piece jumper that tied up in the back like an apron, so it would have been easy to put on and take off. But I do have a few questions about the costume. Why vinyl? I am sure it was partly for durability, but it is made from a heavy and stiff vinyl, so it wouldn’t have been very comfortable. It would have also been really hot since vinyl isn’t a breathable material. While I do understand that vinyl would have been easy and cheaper to produce, it probably would not have been the most comfortable costume. The box also lists that it has an extra flame retardant layer. Why?! Was 1980s vinyl that flammable?

Then there’s the mask. The mask is made from vinyl and has one elastic string stapled to the mask to hold it on the child’s face. Having worn several masks like this as a kid, I know that single staple holding the string to the mask is a weak point. The mask does have holes for the eyes, nose, and mouth, but I do have one question about the mask. Who is it supposed to be? The box does not say. In fact, it just says “M*A*S*H.” With the dark hair, you might think it was Hawkeye since he was the show’s lead. But the face in the mask is waring an Army green hat, something that Hawkeye rarely did. Is it supposed to be Klinger? It does have a striking resemblance to Klinger, and he did often wear a green Army hat (when he wasn’t wearing a Toledo Mud Hens hat). On the box, the copyright information credits “Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation” and lists both 1970 and 1981 on the copyright dates. Could this be Hawkeye from the movie? He did wear a green hat, but a different one. He also had glasses. It is strange that they didn’t have a specific character in mind. Since the costume does appear to be officially licensed by Fox, they could have created a Hawkeye costume and maybe even a Margaret costume for girls. It is possible that they did create more than one, but in my research, I have only been able to find this one costume.

As a fan of M*A*S*H, I wonder what it would have been like to be a kid during the show’s original run. Like many kids, and adults, at the time, I am sure I would have wanted the M*A*S*H toys, bed sheets, shirts, and everything else I could find M*A*S*H related. That would include this costume. Being able to dress up as a member of the 4077th for Halloween would have been fun! This costume gave kids the option to do so, but if I were dressing up for Halloween, I probably would have found a red robe, cowboy hat, and oversized boots to dress as Hawkeye. It is great that the company Ben Cooper invested the effort into making a M*A*S*H Halloween costume as part of their costume line in the early 1980s. Given the number of these I have seen for sale over the years, they must have produced quite a few. This M*A*S*H costume is a unique collectable that I think has a place in M*A*S*H collections along side the vintage M*A*S*H toys of the 1980s.