Treasure trove of Max Factor artifacts found in Redondo Beach garage [View all]

[ellisonz]

By Anna Mavromati, Correspondent
Posted: 02/02/2013 03:48:39 PM PST
Updated: 02/02/2013 03:55:34 PM PST

It seemed like an unassuming file box until Arnie Goldstein opened it.

Goldstein, who was helping his friend in Redondo Beach clean out her garage for a yard sale, said he was in awe when he realized the file box was filled with letters dated during the years of World War II.

"The first thing I said was, 'Oh my God, this is history,'" Goldstein said. "I sat there and said, 'Do you know what you have here?' This is incredible stuff to find after all these years."

The letters were the back-and-forth correspondence of David Factor - son of renowned Hollywood makeup artist Max Factor - and his distant relatives in Poland.

More: http://www.dailybreeze.com/news/ci_22507233/treasure-trove-max-factor-artifacts-found-redondo-beach

My grandfather has letters, videos, and photographs from both well-before, immediately before, and after the war that were sent to relatives in England and the US. Some day here eventually I'll get around to converting these documents to digital format (he's reluctant to do this). Some of the highlights include a studio portrait that I believe is from the 1880s of his grandparents and relatives, video of family outings to the beach and hot water springs, and a letter written by an American soldier to his cousin in Boston from immediately after the war letting him know that my grandfather had survived Buchenwald and was working in the American camps. My grandfather and grandmother are in their 90s and also live in Redondo Beach.

Does your family have any such items?