I watched this movie-twice-this past weekend. I haven't seen it in years, but its actually, Ann Hathaway's facial expressions aside, a really good movie. I think this scene is my favorite. We're all interconnected, whether we realize it or not.
I own tube after tube of red lipstick. Of gloss. Liquids. Pencils, crayons, stains. I own so many. Because I just woke up one day, and decided that I liked them. Or maybe, just maybe, they represent years of work, and innovation. Maybe red lipstick is the work of several geniuses and I am lucky enough to carry it with me.
Max Factor was born in Poland on September 15, 1872. More than one hundred years before I would get here. His name then was Maksymilian Faktorowicz. His mother died when he was two, and he had no formal education. His father sent him to work for a dentist at age eight, and at 14 he went to work for a wig maker and cosmetician. 1886. Poland. Let that soak in. He married his first great love, Esther, who he called Lizzie, for reasons I couldn't tell you, and by 1904, when he was 32 years old, he was a father of three children. And Jewish. Living in a country that was growing more hostile toward Jews by the day.
In 1904, he, and his wife, and their three babies, the youngest of whom was two, got in the steerage section of a boat, and came to America. They left their family, and friends, and their entire way of life. I am sure it was terrifying. And after they spent weeks in the steerage section, came to a country where they didn't know anyone, and didn't speak the language. They would never return to Poland.
They were processed on Ellis Island on February 25, 1904. Mr. Maksymilian Faktorowicz became Max Factor that day. He came for his American Dream.
The Factors moved to St. Louis, Missouri, which also happens to be where my dad's parents hail from. In 1906, six years before said grandparents were born, Lizzie Factor suddenly died of a brain hemorrhage. She left behind three children, ages four through nine. I cannot imagine the devastation. Mr. Factor, needing a mother for his children, married again, and had another son, Frank, in 1907. But, like most decisions made in grief, his marriage proved a bad idea, and it swiftly came to an end. After a very long court battle, Max Factor, future mogul, new to this country, and with no formal schooling, argued for, and won full custody of his children.
The Factors moved again, this time to Los Angeles, where Max married his third wife Jennie, who he would remain married to until his death. His last child, Sidney, was born in 1916. My grandparents were five. Max Factor became an American citizen in 1912.
For the history of his business, I defer to my beloved Wikipedia:
Max Factor moved his family and business to Los Angeles, seeing an opportunity to provide made-to-order wigs and theatrical make-up to the growing film industry. Besides selling his own make-up products he soon became the West Coast distributor of both Leichner and Minor, two leading theatrical make-up manufacturers.
In the early years of movie-making, greasepaint in stick form, although the accepted make-up for use on the stage, could not be applied thinly enough, nor where did colors work satisfactorily on the screen. Factor began experimenting with various compounds in an effort to develop a suitable make-up for the new film medium. By 1914 he had perfected his first cosmetic product. With this major achievement to his credit, Max Factor became the authority on cosmetics in film-making. Soon movie stars were eager to sample his "flexible greasepaint".
In the early years of the business Factor personally applied his products to actors and actresses. He developed a reputation for being able to customize makeup to present actors and actresses in the best possible light on screen. Virtually all of the major movie actresses were regular customers of the Max Factor Beauty Salon on Hollywood Boulevard.
In 1918 Max Factor completed development of his "Color Harmony" range of face powder which, due to its wide range of shades, allowed him to customize and provide more consistent make-up for each individual actor or actress.
In 1920 Max Factor gave in to his son Frank’s suggestion and officially began referring to his products as "make-up" based on the verb phrase "to make up" (one's face). Until then the term "cosmetics" had been used; the term "make-up" was considered vulgar, to be used only by people in the theater or of dubious reputation and not something to be used in polite society.
In 1922 while on holiday in Europe with his wife, Factor visited the headquarters of Leichner in Germany. He was by then the biggest retailer of their theatrical stick greasepaint, yet he was snubbed and kept waiting at reception. Upset at this treatment he left and immediately cabled his sons to begin selling his own brand of greasepaint. Until then Factor had been making his own greasepaint for use on his clients, but had made no attempt to market it while he was representing other brands. Now he concentrated on his own products, which he offered in a collapsible tube, instead of in the stick form used by other producers. His tube greasepaint was not only more hygienic but also could be applied more thinly and evenly. Soon Max Factor's version was the leading brand.
By the 1920s his sons Davis and Frank were heavily involved in the business, with Davis the general manager and Frank assisting his father in the development of new products.
By the 1920s Max Factor was becoming known outside of the film community, which led to the company in the early 1930s developing an in-house public relations department. While Max Factor was perfectly happy for the company to remain a specialized supplier of products to the film community, his children were convinced that they could grow the company into a much larger enterprise. National distribution began in 1927 when Sales Builders, an established distribution company, obtained the rights to advertise, distribute and sell Factor’s products.
Due to his strong connection with the film community Max Factor was able to use celebrity endorsements in advertising its products. In return for a nominal payment of US$1 to the actress the advertising would also promote the star’s latest film.
The development of Technicolor film required the company to develop a new line of products as its existing Panchromatic make-up left a slight sheen on the skin which reflected surrounding colors. As a result of how bad they looked in color many actors and actresses refused to appear in color films. Because Max Factor was recovering from being hit by a delivery van at the time, Frank Factor took the lead in the two years it took to develop a suitable make-up, initially called the "T-D" and then renamed the "Pan-Cake" series. It was sold in a solid cake form and applied with a damp sponge which offered the advantage of concealing skin imperfections under a transparent matte finish. Its first appearance was in the film Vogues of 1938.
It was an immediate hit and its advantages led to women stealing it from the film sets and using it privately. Its only disadvantage for everyday use was that it could not be used at night as it made the skin too dark under all except under the powerful lights used in film studios. While Max Factor wanted to reserve the product for film use, Frank Factor was open to the commercial possibilities and began developing lighter shades. At the time the company was only able to produce enough to meet studio demand, which delayed commercial release until production could be increased. The company used the release of Vogues of 1938 in August 1937 and five months later The Goldwyn Follies, the second film to use the make-up, to commercially release Pan-Cake to the public, It immediately became the fastest and largest selling single make-up item to date, as well as the standard make-up used in all Technicolor films.
Max Factor died in 1938 at the age of 65. He left behind an empire that he built himself. When he first came to America, he started a wig and makeup business, but his partner stole all of the profits. So the man who lost his country, his wife, and really everything he had ever known, had to start over yet again. With no formal education, and really with nothing beyond his blood, sweat, and tears, he built the most successful commercial makeup company in the world.
He left the company behind to his son, Frank, who changed his name to Max Factor, Jr. It was the Junior Mr. Factor who brought the company into the modern age. It was Max Factor, Jr., who really pushed to market "makeup" (a term he coined) to the every day woman. His biggest contribution was the Max Factor "True-Color" lipstick, which was marketed as the first smear proof lipstick, and was really the lipstick that ushered in the modern era. There were six shades and they were ALL red. Red was the color in the 1940's. I love it.
One of Max Factor's favorite models was one of my favorites as well...
I think the greatest thing about Max Factor, Inc., is that they are the creator of Lucille Ball's signature red lipstick, clear red, which she wore for most of her life. The movie "Lured" was released in 1947, so I am guessing this ad is from the same year. My dad was born in 1947.
I Love Lucy premiered in October of 1951. I think the argument could be made that it is the single greatest television show of all time. Think about it. You've seen every episode. Everyone you know has seen every episode. 60+ years later. My four year old can identify Lucy on sight. She's iconic.
Lucille Desiree Ball was born August 6, 1911, in Jamestown, New York. She's a leo like me. With fake red hair like me. We share the same favorite color, yellow. Much like Mr. Factor, she got off to a rocky start. In 1915, when she was three and a half years old, and her mother was pregnant, her father got typhoid fever and died. She went to live with her grandparents until her mother remarried four years later, and she was sent to live with her step-father's parents. In 1927 when Lucille was 16, her family lost everything. A group of neighborhood children were target shooting in her yard, under the supervision of her Grandfather Ball. One of the boys heard his mother call, and took off across the yard, forgetting about the shooting going on. He was shot and paralyzed and the Ball family was destroyed financially in the lawsuit that followed.
Lucille was sent to drama school in New York City as a teenager and she failed out! Possibly the greatest comedic actress ever failed out of acting school. She said herself that all she learned from The John Murray Anderson School for the Dramatic Arts was how to be afraid. But imagine if she had given up then!!
She became a model in New York City, but was sidelined by illness and unable to work for over two years. In that moment as well, she could have given up, but she didn't . She came back, and then on to Hollywood to follow her dream of being an actress.
Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz had maybe the most famous marriage in all of show business. I Love Lucy was created to keep the two busy stars in the same timezone, and honestly, in an effort to save their crumbling marriage. She fought hard. They had to overcome institutionalized racism from the studio who didn't believe that America would accept their interracial marriage.
Along the way, she created a television dynasty and reached several "firsts". Ball was the first woman in television to be head of a production company: Desilu, the company that Arnaz and she formed. After their divorce, Ball bought out Arnaz's share of the studio, and she proceeded to function as a very active studio head, earning herself the nickname Lucille Balls. A female studio head fifty something years ago? She was an innovator, ahead of her time.
Desilu and I Love Lucy pioneered a number of methods still in use in television production today such as filming before a live audience with a number of cameras, and distinct sets adjacent to each other.
Ball and Arnaz wanted to remain in their Los Angeles home, but the time zone logistics made that broadcast norm impossible. Prime time in L.A. was too late at night on the East Coast to air a major network series, meaning the majority of the TV audience would be seeing not only the inferior picture of kinescopes, but seeing them at least a day later.
Sponsor Philip Morris did not want to show day-old kinescopes to the major markets on the East Coast, yet neither did they want to pay for the extra cost that filming, processing, and editing would require, pressuring Ball and Arnaz to relocate to New York City. Ball and Arnaz offered to take a pay cut to finance filming, on the condition that their company, Desilu, would retain the rights to that film once it was aired. CBS relinquished the show rights to Desilu after initial broadcast, not realizing they were giving away a valuable and durable asset. In 1957, CBS bought the rights back for $1,000,000, which provided Ball and Arnaz the down payment for the purchase of the former RKO Studios, which became Desilu Studios. Lucille Ball was a boss. In every way.
She was also a fashion icon. She was voted the most fashionably dressed celebrity several times throughout the 1950's. A big part of her look, all through the 1940's and 1950's was Clear Red Lipstick, which, of course, was created by Max Factor. This man who came from nothing, to become the biggest name in makeup, made a shade that became the signature lip of one of the most influential women of the last hundred years.
And now I own it.
You read that right. And I am so excited!!!
Check out this gloriousness:
How beautiful is this?
This particular compact is circa 1956 or 1957. It isn't a replica. It isn't made to look like vintage Max Factor lipstick. It is real live honest to goodness vintage Max Factor lipstick. 60 years old. Sent through time to my doorstep.
We also need to talk about this case:
I think this is breathtakingly beautiful. Can you believe that lipstick used to just come like this?! I think it oozes glamour. Max Factor, Jr. believed in glamour for the every day woman, and if this isn't that, I don't know what is.
This is the lipstick that Lucy wore. That Max made. Its an honor to have something like this. For someone like me, who loves red lipstick to have what is essentially the first red lipstick is really special.
It got here on the 25th, exactly 112 years to the day after Max Factor and his family arrived on Ellis Island, in a package that said "fragile" in what I could swear was my grandmother's handwriting. If she were alive, she'd be 106, and it must just be the way penmanship was taught in those days. Look how sweet:
I opened it with shaking hands. When the compact fell out, it was so tiny and perfect. I thought the pictures looked big, so I was surprised when the compact was little. It still feels like it has a ton of lipstick in it though. I just cant get over how beautiful it is. I cant believe that products were made this way. And according to the bottom of the compact, it was made in the USA. After World War II, the economy experienced a boom and it was a real time of prosperity. I feel like the lipstick really reflects that feeling.
It smells like celluloid. It smells like the old home movie reels that we had when I was a kid, that we would have to watch on a film projector. It smells like my grandma, and looks like the things that she had on her vanity that I was too young to appreciate back in those days. I wish I could go back now and talk to her about a lot of different things, and try on all her makeup and jewelry. Both of my grandmothers were pretty glamorous back in the day. I don't remember either of them ever wearing red lipstick, but I bet they would have. My dad's mom preferred her lipstick in a mauvy color, and I don't ever remember my Gege wearing lipstick, though maybe she did.
I almost didn't put it on. I was worried it would break or not work, when I touched it a few times and there was no real color transfer, but it slid right on. And, as luck would have it, (and honestly I am really not surprised, the packaging is a million times better, so why wouldn't the product be?) it stayed on all day. 12 hours easily. Its kind of an orangy red and I felt like Lucy.
It felt really special to be wearing it. We just wear the stuff we wear and never think about where it comes from. I know exactly where this came from. It came from Poland and escaped the Nazis. It escaped poverty and survived the death of a spouse. It raised six children in a new country. It became an undeniable success. It came from Jamestown and Celeron, New York. It survived the loss of a parent and abandonment by the other. It overcame illness and rejection to become an icon and a household name. Red lipstick is special. When I say its a super hero cape, this is why. It represents decades of bravery and resilience and ingenuity and creativity. Which is exactly what I feel when I wear it, even sixty years later.
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