Tag Archives: Hollywood

Dream Machines

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Petersen Automotive Museum
March 7, 2020
Wilshire Blvd
Los Angeles

We went to the Petersen auto museum to see the special exhibition Hollywood Dream Machines: Vehicles of Science Fiction and Fantasy.  Dozens of vehicles from science fiction themed movies and television shows are on display.  The exhibition was curated in collaboration with the San Diego-based Comic-Con Museum.  It runs through May 2020.

There are science fiction vehicles displayed around the lobby and even a couple in the parking garage.  The first car to meet us as we entered the main gallery on the ground floor was the familiar DeLorean from the Back to the Future movies.  We particularly enjoyed the numerous Batman related vehicles, not only the Batmobiles, but also Batman motorcycles, Joker cars, and models and images of the Batmobile over the years.

Meredith and her sister were taken by the Star Wars speeder on display. We rolled our eyes at the exhibit tag, though.  For all three of us the 1977 movie will always be Star Wars, and not The New Hope.

We also enjoyed seeing other non-Hollywood classic cars.  The Petersen has an extensive collection, which it rotates from time to time. Although we have been there before, there were many vehicles on display that we had not seen before, including the 1886 Benz Motorwagen pictured above.  The Motorwagen had 0.75 horsepower and could achieve a top speed of 10 miles per hour.  Although not the very first automobile, it may be the first practical one.

On our three prior visits, we went with Meredith‘s mother Margaret. Our most recent prior visit was to see the grand reopening in 2015.  Shortly before that the museum had remodeled its exterior; our blog post about that visit, including the architecture, can be seen here.  The year before that we went to the Petersen to see the Mustang exhibit, celebrating the 50th anniversary of Ford’s release of the first Mustangs.

The museum’s collection is extensive, and not all cars it owns can be displayed at any one time.  The Petersen, for an extra charge, offers tours of its vault.  We have never seen the vault but think it might be worth doing someday.

We noticed the same deficits in accessibility that struck us when we last visited, with Margaret in her wheelchair.  Although there are no steps to climb inside the museum, the internal doors are heavy and do not have push button openers, and the parking garage lacks an elevator.

Parking is expensive, a flat $17 for the day, but that reflects the Wilshire location.  Other parking options in the area are in the same cost range.

We are thinking that our next Los Angeles museum venture will probably be to the Skirball in May, to see the Star Trek exhibition, which will open on April 30.

Hurray for Hollywood

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Hollywood Museum
Hollywood
September 2, 2018

We drove up to Hollywood and met up with Meredith‘s sister to tour the Hollywood Museum. We have been there twice before, both times with Margaret, but had not visited in several years.

The building itself is a wonderful thing to explore. The museum is located in the old Max Factor building in the heart of Hollywood, on Highland Avenue at Hollywood Boulevard. The ground floor still sports the beautiful marble lobby with the four parlors in which Max met with his celebrity clients. Each is painted a different color. There are separate rooms for blondes, redheads, brunettes, and “brownettes” (Factor’s term for actresses with light brown hair). The wall color in each room is designed to go with the skin tone which best matched the client’s hair. Since many actresses dyed their hair, Factor would adjust the make up for each, to get the right color to have the complexion match her hair.

The back portion of the building was where the Max Factor cosmetics were manufactured and packaged. Nowadays it is used as museum exhibit space.

The entire museum, which covers four floors, is jam packed with artifacts. There are many costumes from movies and television series, numerous props of various kinds, and many photos. The museum collection spans a century of movie and television production. There are several thematic areas, but the museum as a whole is not overly organized. Display cases are crammed full of things, and the visitor is constantly stumbling across artifacts from an old favorite movie or show.

We went this weekend to see the Batman 66 special exhibition, a collection of costumes and props from the old Batman television show of the 1960’s starring Adam West and Burt Ward. It was fun seeing the old villain costumes and a replica of the Batmobile. We learned that it was built on the frame of a Lincoln Futura concept car, complete with the bubble windshield. Several video screens were running clips from the old show. We were particularly struck by a sequence that had Batman and the Joker surfing side-by-side, apparently in some sort of competition, with board shorts worn over their regular costumes. Several display cases featured related collectible memorabilia from the time: action figures, trading cards, board games, buttons, and a variety of toys.

The old Batman TV show debuted when we were in kindergarten, and it was a sensation. Meredith remembers a “Bat Party” her mother hosted for her and her classmates, to which most of the children wore capes. Party games were Batman themed and prizes and favors were Batman items, like a 45 record with the Batman theme song.

After the museum visit we had lunch next-door at Mel’s Diner. Then Kathleen left, and the two of us walked over to Grauman’s Chinese Theater, to look at the celebrity footprints and handprints in the cement.

Adult admission to the Hollywood Museum is $15, and visitors should plan to pay cash in addition to park nearby in Hollywood. There is a small lot next to the museum and other parking nearby on the weekend at Hollywood High School.