Paramount Acquires Western Costume Co.

Western Costume Co., a 76-year-old Hollywood institution that is considered to have the world’s largest collection of costumes, has been sold to Paramount Pictures Corp. Western Costume and Paramount officials confirmed the purchase Wednesday but declined to discuss details of the deal.

Western Costume, which makes and rents motion picture costumes, will continue its current operations “as far as we know,” said Western Costume President John F. Golden. Paramount, a unit of Gulf & Western Inc., bought the company from four other movie studios that shared ownership, Golden said. The previous owners were Columbia Pictures, Universal Studios, Warner Bros. and 20th Century Fox, he said.

Helped the Army

Western Costume, which has annual revenue estimated in the range of $4.5 million to $5 million and about 175 employees, is firmly established in Hollywood lore. The company’s inventory includes more than 1 million costumes, including goods to create a menagerie or Caesar’s army.

The company even outfitted a real army: Just after the Pearl Harbor attack in 1941, Western Costume lent uniforms to the California National Guard, which was suddenly caught short.

Established in 1912, the firm is said to have dressed Indians and cowboys for the first one-reel films. The company is also credited with making the several pairs of the ruby slippers worn by Dorothy in MGM’s “The Wizard of Oz.”