The Masks of Famous Monsters - Issue # 36

Welcome to the fourteenth installment in The Masks of Famous Monsters Series. Famous Monsters of Filmland magazine was an absolute treasure trove of early mask history. By combing through the 191 issues published between 1958-1983, it's possible to gain a good understanding of the decades of evolution and history of Don Post Studios and Topstone monster masks. The eventual goal of this series is to catalog and archive each monster mask appearance in the pages Famous Monsters.

The month of June came and went and without a "Masks of Famous Monster" post, so I'd like to get two out here for July. This month's first installment, which features issue 36, is short, sweet and to the point...

Readers were immediately greeted with monster mask hijinks upon opening the cover of the December 1965 issue of Famous Monsters. This two page spread spanned pages 2 and 3 and features a shrouded Topstone Skull in action...

The back cover of issue 36 would perhaps be the most significant in the history of the publication, as it would feature the "Calendar Masks" as seen in the monster calendar for the very first time.  The Don Post Studios deluxe Universal masks never looked as good as these painted in such vibrant  paint schemes. In my humble opinion, this is the quintessential monster mask ad, and it made it's Famous Monsters debut in the December 1965 issue...