1967 - Background - The Morris Costume Company

[Trogluddite]

In Greg Long's The Making of Bigfoot at pages 444-448, Philip Morris describes the history of his costume company.  According to him, the company began because there were no inexpensive gorilla suits that magic acts, theater groups, and other entertainers could afford, so he decided to fill the void.  Greg Long's book states that in the 1960s, Morris was selling the gorilla suits from the basement of his house in Charlotte, North Carolina.  

 

Morris advertised his gorilla suits in Amusement Business magazine and speculated that because the magazine carried about rodeo shows and personalities, Roger Patterson saw an advertisement for his gorilla suits in "an August 1967 issue" of the magazine.  Morris goes on to say that he first received a phone call from Roger Patterson inquiring about a Morris gorilla suit around August 1967.  Morris states that he was selling gorilla suits "back then" (i.e., in 1967) for $335 but later raised their price $435.  However, a copy of the advertisement from the December 1967 issue of Amusement Business (provided by Morris to Long) shows that Morris's gorilla suits had been priced at $750 and were reduced in December to $435.¹       

 

The Morris Costume Company did not receive much, if any, attention in the press until 1980.  The earliest significant article was published in The Daily Inter Lake of Kalispell, Montana, on August 13, 1980.  Seems like making the best Bigfoot costume ever would have been worth mentioning.

 

 

 

The company was also mentioned in the Daily American Republic of Poplar Bluff, Missouri on November 10, 1980.  Seems like making the best Bigfoot costume ever would have been worth mentioning.

 

 

 

The November 4, 1982 article in The Daily Star of Hammond, Louisiana included a picture of Philip Morris with some of his finest creations.  Seems like a replica of the best Bigfoot costume ever would have been included in this group. 

 

 

 

¹ I've located a museum that claims to have archives of Amusement Business magazine and requested copies of certain things from two August 1967 issues.