Retro Road Trip: Hollywood Museum
Max Factor Makeup and the Hollywood Museum
Visit the Hollywood Museum and immerse yourself in the glamour of the movies and the rich history of the film industry. Photos, posters, costumes and memorabilia from every film genre are on display.
Hollywood Museum in the Max Factor Makeup Factory
The Hollywood Museum is located at 1660 North Highland at Hollywood Blvd in the original Max Factor Building. Max Factor was known as the makeup artist of the stars. The ground floor of the Hollywood Museum tells the history of Max Factor, and has autographs and headshots of the great stars of the Golden Age of Hollywood.
The basement houses horror movie memorabilia. The second floor has a traveling exhibit, currently the Pointer Sisters costumes. The third floor houses Super Hero costumes and the original Bat Mobile. It also has a display on Back to the Future, with costumes and the car from the film. There is also a section on the classic black and white movies with old film equipment.
Max Factor–Makeup Artist for the Stars
Max Factor, born in 1877, in Poland, apprenticed at the age of eight to a dentist-pharmacist. At the age of nine, he apprenticed with a wig maker and cosmetician. In the 1890s, he opened his own shop in Moscow selling homemade rouges, creams, fragrances, and wigs. Russian nobility discovered him through a theatrical traveling troupe and appointed him the official cosmetic expert for the royal family and the Imperial Russian Grand Opera.
Factor immigrated to the U.S. in 1904 because he was worried about the growing anti-semitism in Russia. (He became a U.S. citizen in 1916.) He first sold his makeup at the 1904 World’s Fair in St. Louis. However, Factor had dreams of selling his makeup to movie stars. He moved to Los Angeles with his family in 1908, and opened a wig shop.
In 1914, Max Factor invented a make up called “flexible greasepaint” for use specifically in the movies. Before, actors had used theatrical makeup which cracked and caked. Factor also designed wigs made of human hair that he rented to movie studios. He invented the “platinum blonde” look and first used it on Jean Harlow, and then later on Marilyn Monroe.
In the 1920s, Max Factor introduced his cosmetics to the public promising that every girl could look like a movie star if she wore Max Factor makeup.
Max Factor Building
The building, which now houses the Hollywood Museum, was built in 1914. Max Factor purchased it in 1928. He hired architect S. Charles Lee to renovate it in the Hollywood Regency Art Deco style. The showroom was on the ground floor with crystal chandeliers, parquet floors and thematic friezes. Upstairs was the Max Factor factory. He had delivery trucks that supplied wigs and makeup to department stores.
Max Factor and his Beauty Calibrator
In 1932, Max Factor invented the “Beauty Calibrator.” This medieval looking device detected “flaws” in the human face. These flaws could then be corrected with pancake shading and precisely applied makeup to create “the perfect face.”
“Flaws almost invisible to the ordinary eye become glaring distortions when thrown upon the screen in highly magnified images…the device…fits over the head and face with flexible metal strips which conform closely to the various features. The strips are held in place by set screws, allowing for 325 possible adjustments. If, for instance, the subject’s nose is slightly crooked–so slightly, in fact, that it escapes ordinary observation–the flaw is promptly detected by the instrument.” Max Factor, Hollywood Museum Display
Max Factor Creates Signature Makeup Styles for the Silver Screen
Max Factor’s makeup artists were famous for their creative looks. “Bee Stung Lips, Vampire Lips, Rosebud Lips, and Cupid’s Bow Lips” were all invented in the makeup rooms of the Max Factor Building.
The original makeup rooms were painted a hygienic white with adjustable chairs and lights to duplicate any conditions that a screen star might experience while filming.
“Light is the source of all color…Any woman playing any role in life may come into it and consult experts as to the proper shades of makeup that will enable her to develop the advantages of contour, color and texture–or to minimize whatever disadvantages there may be.” Max Factor, Hollywood Museum Display
Max Factor and the Science of Color Harmony
Max Factor later developed his theory of Color Harmony. Certain combinations of natural complexion shades, hair colors and eye colors were most effectively complimented by makeup in harmony with the same colorings. He developed four Color Harmony Rooms.
“For Brunettes Only” is Painted Dusty Pink
The makeup rooms have preserved makeup tables and ads for Max Factor makeup covering the walls. Two of the rooms have chairs where you can capture the perfect Insta photo.
“For Blondes Only” is Painted Grayish Blue
This room was created for Jean Harlow, the original “Blonde Bombshell.” Now it contains the largest collection of Marilyn Monroe memorabilia in the world, according to the Hollywood Museum.
In addition to photos and magazine covers, Monroe memorabilia includes the paste jewelry she used in her screen test in 1946. There is the “discovery” photo of Norma Jean from an article called “Women in War Work.” In the spring of 1945, Norma Jean was working at the Radioplane Corporation. David Conover took photos of the assembly line workers.
“…[David Conover] came upon a girl putting on propellers. She had curly ash-blonde hair and her face was smudged with dirt. He snapped and walked on. Then he stopped. He was stunned…she was beautiful.” Hollywood Museum Display
There is a section dedicated to Marilyn Monroe’s 1954 USO performance in Seoul, Korea that includes film footage of that day and the dress she wore. For the troops, Marilyn sang “Diamonds are a Girl’s Best Friend, Bye Bye Baby, Somebody Love Me, and Do it Again.” She described her Korea trip as one of the greatest highlights of her life.
“I have never felt like a star before in my heart. It was so wonderful to look down and see a fellow smiling at me.” Marilyn Monroe, Hollywood Museum display
“For Brownettes Room” is painted Soft Peach
Max Factor created the term “brownette” for light brown hair. He believed that most brunettes were really brownettes and their hair colors were different from each other.
“For Redheads Only” is Painted Soft Green
This room contains memorabilia for Lucille Ball. An antique 1949 RCA Television Console has a TV that plays the I Love Lucy Show. The room has many photos of both Lucy and Desi, along with her dresses. It also has interpretive displays detailing the many innovations Desilu Productions brought to the T.V. entertainment industry.
Autographs of the Stars
Joe Ackerman was called “Hollywood’s Beloved Autograph Hound.” The autographs he collected are in the Hollywood Museum. They are nicely organized. Miniature movie posters are in a frame along with the autographs of the stars in that film.
Classic Photos and Movie Posters
A large room has black and white photos courtesy of Bison Archives Alma Corp. The photos include headshots that the stars would send to their fans. It also has many photographs from stars in their homes and out on the town.
Sprinkled throughout the Hollywood Museum are classic movie posters. An art form in their own right, movie posters must give a glimpse of the plot and build anticipation for the film itself. It is fascinating to see the different design techniques that have been used throughout the years. (See my article on the Hatch Show Print Shop to learn about classic concert posters.)
Classic Hollywood Sign and Maps of the Stars
The Hollywood Museum also has a photo of the original 1923 Hollywoodland sign. Next to it is a piece taken from the letters when they were allowed to decay throughout the 1970s. In 1978, Playboy founder, Hugh Hefner, organized a fundraising effort to rebuild the sign.
Maps of the Stars were popular among tourists that used to visit Hollywood. The maps first appeared in the 1920s. The Hollywood Museum has an original sign from a street vendor and a midcentury photo of a woman selling these maps–a little piece of history that many of us still remember.
Conclusion
This article only talks about part of the first floor of the Hollywood Museum! This floor also includes a huge science fiction section. Horror fans will want to visit the creepy basement and peer into the jail cell of Hannibal Lecter.
Superhero and Back to the Future memorabilia are on the third floor. Classic film equipment and movie memorabilia from the black and white film days are also on the third floor. The museum is great for a family because everyone can split up and explore their favorite movie genres.
Are you a Pee-wee Herman fan? Check out my article about the famous dinosaurs that were in the film, Pee-wee Herman’s Big Adventure.
