Terrible Towel - Rights, Marketing and Proceeds

Rights, Marketing and Proceeds

Upon the sudden popularity of the Terrible Towel, Pittsburgh area department stores sold out all gold and black hand towels. Because the hand towels were often sold as a set, with matching bath towels, stores were left with un-even sets. In the fall of 1978, Bernard Pollock, divisional marketing manager of Gimbel's Department Store came up with the idea of putting a Terrible Towel logo on hand towels and sold the idea to Cope. The first Terrible Towels hit the marketplace on December 20, 1978 at $6 apiece. Gimbel's could not stock them fast enough. Gimbel's has since gone out of business. The original version of The Terrible Towel was manufactured by St. Mary's Inc. of New York, NY and was available in two colors: Gold and Black. The current manufacturer of the Towel is McArthur Towel & Sports Co., in Baraboo, Wisconsin. The current cost of a towel is approximately $7.

In 1996, Cope gave the rights to The Terrible Towel to the Allegheny Valley School in Coraopolis, Pennsylvania. The school provides care for more than 900 people with mental retardation and physical disabilities, including Cope's autistic son, Danny. Proceeds from the Terrible Towel have helped raise more than $2.2 million for the school. During the 2005 season, when the Steelers won their fifth Super Bowl, more than 1 million Towels were sold; some fans bought 200 Towels at a time.