Dootson, K;
(2016)
“The Hollywood Powder Puff War”: Technicolor Cosmetics in the 1930s.
Film History
, 28
(1)
pp. 107-131.
10.2979/filmhistory.28.1.04.
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Abstract
This essay examines the rivalry between cosmetics firms Max Factor and Elizabeth Arden in 1930s Hollywood as they competed for dominance in the field of Technicolor cosmetics. This rivalry, dubbed “the Hollywood Powder Puff War” by the press, was far from a trivial skirmish but is discussed here as the site where labor practices, racial constructions, and female identity were contested. Against a backdrop of industrial action in studio makeup departments, I argue that Factor’s Technicolor cosmetics line ultimately triumphed over Arden’s by reinforcing whiteness as a beauty ideal during the transition from black-and-white to color film.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | “The Hollywood Powder Puff War”: Technicolor Cosmetics in the 1930s |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.2979/filmhistory.28.1.04 |
| Publisher version: | https://doi.org/10.2979/filmhistory.28.1.04 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | This version is the version of record. For information on re-use, please refer to the publisher’s terms and conditions. |
| Keywords: | Max Factor, Technicolor, makeup, cosmetics, Hollywood, labor history, whiteness, female spectatorship |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH > Faculty of Arts and Humanities UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH > Faculty of Arts and Humanities > SELCS |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10162968 |
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