Herman J. Schultheis was born in Aachen, Germany in 1900, and immigrated to the United States in the mid-1920s after obtaining a Ph.D. in mechanical and electrical engineering. He married Ethel Wisloh in 1936, and the pair moved to Los Angeles the following year. He worked in the film industry from the late 1930s to the mid-1940s, most notably on the animated features Fantasia and Pinocchio. His detailed notebook, documenting the special effects for Fantasia, is the subject of a 14-minute short-subject included on the film's DVD. In 1949, he started employment with Librascope as a patent engineer. Schultheis was an avid amateur photographer who traveled the world with his cameras. It was on one of these photographic exhibitions in 1955 that he disappeared in the jungles of Guatemala. His remains were discovered 18 months later. The digitized portion of this collection represents the images Schultheis took of Los Angeles and its surrounding communities after he relocated to the area in 1937. In 1928 Max Factor purchased the four-story Max Factor Building (formerly the Hollywood Fire & Safe Building) known as the "Jewel Box of the Cosmetic World", and began manufacturing his world-famous make up on the upper floors while transforming the ground floor into a grand salon where fashionable women and celebrities came to see and be seen, as well as to purchase his make-up. In 1935 he opened the Max Factor Make Up Studio (adjacent to the main building) fondly nicknamed "The Pink Powder Puff", in the modern Art Deco style, which was designed by architect S. Charles Lee. The exterior of the Make Up Studio (seen here) includes rare marble imported from France, Greece and Italy; elegant street-to-roof fluted pilasters; six gracefully curved display windows containing bronze, copper and pewter finished aluminum castings; showcase window trimmings; bas-relief ornaments; art-deco rooftop ornaments, and magnificent ornamental lamps at the grand entryway. Declared L.A. Historic Cultural Monument 593 on April 26, 1994, this building eventually became The Max Factor Museum of Beauty. Sadly, it closed its doors in 1996, but reopened in 2002 as The Hollywood History Museum. It is located at 1666 N. Highland Ave., just one half-block south of Hollywood Boulevard.
Max Factor Building (Hollywood, Los Angeles, Calif.) Max Factor Co Art deco (Architecture)--California--Hollywood (Los Angeles) Display of merchandise Cosmetics industry--California--Los Angeles Show windows--California--Los Angeles Women--California--Los Angeles Pedestrians--California--Los Angeles Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monuments Sidewalks--California--Hollywood (Los Angeles) Highland Avenue (Los Angeles, Calif.) Hollywood (Los Angeles, Calif.) Schultheis Collection photographs Lee, S. Charles
If you're wondering about permissions and what you can do with this item, a good starting point is the "rights information" on this page. See our terms of use for more tips.
Share your story
Has Calisphere helped you advance your research, complete a project, or find something meaningful? We'd love to hear about it; please send us a message.
