SPECIAL POST: Film Star Creations of Hollywood

Film Star Creations yellow plastic mesh, green velvet, and green ribbon-trimmed small-size bag. From the collection of The Vintage Purse Museum.

Film Star Creations of Hollywood 

Film Star Creations is not a well-known name in the world of midcentury vintage handbags, but there are quite a few examples to be seen and purchased online. We have a number of these fashionable bags in a variety of styles, and wanted to know more about them. 

Our first hurdle was finding the origins of the company's owner, Charles Goldman. It was a bit difficult because this is a somewhat common name. When we thought we'd found the correct Mr. Goldman, we reached out to his descendants, as well as a friend of one of Mr. Goldman's children, and they confirmed that we did, indeed, have the right person. (We are withholding the names of Charles Goldman's children, relatives, and the friend for privacy.)

Charles Sidney Goldman was born in 1907 in Missouri to Adam Goldman (1876-1934) and Minnie Levinson Goldman Nathan (1883-1958). According to Adam’s 1918 WWI draft registration card, they lived in Chicago, Illinois, where he was in the export business. (At the time of Adam's death in 1934 he was working with his brother Harry in Chicago at their rain cape factory.)

The Goldman family was living in St. Louis, Missouri after Charles’s birth, then made the move to Chicago. They eventually relocated to Florida, where, according to the 1920 US Census, Adam was in the clothing and dry goods business. (A 1924 Florida newspaper article identified him as a jeweler.) 

The Goldmans periodically appeared in Miami newspaper society columns, most of which were announcements about vacations to visit Charles's maternal grandmother in Michigan. It was common at that time for newspapers to share personal information such as local citizens' travel plans, their home addresses, and names of guests that were visiting from out of town.  

In 1924, it was reported that young Charles Goldman had been very ill due to a battle with diabetes. According to the newspaper article (below), Charles’s father Adam “spent a large amount of money” getting treatment for his only child. Charles was eventually sent to Baltimore’s famous Johns Hopkins hospital for care. This was just a few years after the invention of insulin, which saved his life.

July 18, 1924 Miami Tribune article detailing Charles Goldman's battle with diabetes. Clipped via Newspapers.com.

It's possible that Charles's health concerns were why the Goldmans moved to Florida, with its warmer climate. After Charles regained his health, the family moved back to the midwest.

According to the 1930 US Census, Adam was a sales publicist, and Charles, then 23 years old, worked as an advertising salesman for a magazine. They lived in Chicago, which is presumably where Charles eventually met his future wife, Pearl Norma Levin, who was born in Illinois in 1913. 

Vibrant hot pink satin facile-hinged clutch bag by Film Star Creations. From the collection of The Vintage Purse Museum.

The 1940 US Census lists Charles, Pearl, and their first child as living in New York, where Charles was still in the advertising business. However, his 1940 WWII draft registration card shows that they lived in San Francisco, California, where he was working for the San Francisco News. This move to Northern California must have taken place just prior to the publication of the census.

Here's where we start to piece together the evolution of the Goldmans' business ventures. In 1940, a column (by Helen Civelli Brown, 1911-2000) in the San Francisco News (directly below) says that Mrs. Charles Goldman invented floral oilcloth cutouts with the purpose of decorating kitchen cabinets, and recently sold some to Woolworth's. While it's possible that the Goldmans in this advertorial could have been a different couple, we believe it is the correct Charles and Pearl for three reasons: The time frame lines up, it mentions they'd moved from New York to San Francisco, and this is the newspaper Charles was working for in 1940, presumably in the advertising department, where he most certainly would have had contact with columnist Helen Civelli. 

The San Francisco News, Oct. 24, 1940, clipped via Newspapers.com.

We don’t know why Charles would change his career path from advertising to manufacturing—and the eventual ownership of a handbag company—but it wouldn't be unreasonable to theorize that it was Pearl's creativity that was the impetus. 

We found a 1939 listing in the California business entity database for Oilcraft Corp., which corresponds with the Goldmans' company name. Unfortunately, we could not access further details, other than that Oilcraft Corp. was only in business until 1941. We believe it is shortly after the dissolution of this company that the Goldmans began Film Star Creations, although we could not find a matching business entity or corporate filing in the California state business database, nor in any city databases. (This company is also referred to in some of its advertising as "Another Film Star Creation." We tried numerous keyword variations on business name databases, and nothing came up.) 

Film Star Creations of Hollywood labels have a distinctive logo that appears to be a sketch of unrolled celluloid film and a klieg light, which was used in filmmaking.

Film Star Creations' label with klieg light logo. From a handbag in the collection of The Vintage Purse Museum.

Despite not knowing the exact year it began, we do know that the company sold a 1940s line of dolls made in the likenesses of movie stars, which may have been its first product. Per the 2002 book Buying and Selling Celebrity Dolls: Price Guide by Michele Karl, two Film Star Creations' dolls were popular actors Dorothy Lamour (1914-1996) and Veronica Lake (1922-1973).

While we can't be certain that the dolls came before the bags, we know that, in 1947, Charles Goldman created another Hollywood connection by somehow procuring a deal with two film studios (or actors' agents) for Film Star Creations belt and handbag ads featuring RKO contract player Madge Meredith (1921-2017), and Paramount's Diana Lynn (1926-1971). (Diana Lynn went on to make other films and television appearances. Madge Meredith became an advocate for victims of injustice after being wrongfully convicted of a crime in 1947 and released in 1951. She also resumed her acting career.)

The Goldman family told us that Charles also worked in film publicity after the family moved to Los Angeles, which could very well be how he came up with the business name, and how he was able to connect with the studios for the actors in his advertisements.

Actor Diana Lynn in Film Star Creations ad, December 21, 1947, The Press Democrat, clipped via Newspapers.com.

Film Star Creations cow hide "pony hair" handbag. From the collection of The Vintage Purse Museum.

We also found evidence that Film Star Creations produced novelty items such as a Las Vegas game (one is part of the Frank F. Watts collection of casino memorabilia in the archives of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas), animal pillows (per the 1946 General Desk Book of the Office of Price Administration), and a home-decor snowman wall-hanging (as seen on an online auction site). We also found a few 1947 and 1948 ads for apparel by Film Star Creations, including "modified ballerina skirts."

Most of these items initially overlapped with the Goldmans' handbag sales, which soon became Film Star Creations' primary product. The first indication (that we could find) of the existence of Film Star Creations as a handbag company was in 1944, when Advertising & Selling and Printers Ink, two different trade publications, showed listings for the company in Los Angeles, as represented by ad agency Hugo Scheibner, Inc. Publicist Hugo Scheibner (1905-1979) had offices in Los Angeles and San Francisco, and was also the founder of the Advertising & Marketing Research Library.

Embossed clutch with exterior stitching by Film Star Creations. From the collection of The Vintage Purse Museum.

In 1945, the Office of Price Administration (OPA) issued a booklet about its handling of wartime control of the US government’s pricing and supplies. This booklet has many companies listed, but Film Star Creations was specifically cited for “six styles of handbags” which were to be sold at the maximum prices set forth by the OPA in 1942. 

Navy blue suede Film Star Creations handbag. From the collection of The Vintage Purse Museum.

We found 1938 advertisements for shoes made by a company called Film Star Creations. (There was also a UK company with a similar name, but we believe it to be unrelated.) The shoe line seemed to have disappeared within a year. We don't know if the Goldmans were somehow associated with this line of shoes or the acquisition of its business name, but footwear would eventually become connected to their handbag company... and beyond.

1945 was when we began seeing advertisements in the newspaper archive for Charles Goldman's Film Star Creations of Hollywood handbags, as well as classified ads seeking workers for their 742 S. Hill St. location. (This building is now called the ARTrium.)

An early designer of Film Star's bags was "Jules" (per the ad directly below). We don't know who this mysterious Jules was, or if they were actually an employee of Film Star Creations, or perhaps a pseudonym used for marketing purposes.

Sept. 23, 1945, Film Star Creations ad in the Henderson Morning Gleaner that mentions a designer named Jules. Clipped via Newspapers.com

Soon, Film Star Creations of Hollywood branched out to belts. One ad (directly below) also indicates that they made leather bracelets and hair ties. Leather was not the only material used for the company's products, possibly due to wartime and post-wartime shortages. During WWII, consumers could still purchase leather handbags in a store without a ration coupon (unlike leather shoes, which required a coupon). However, bag makers themselves were under ration orders, which led them to using other materials, such as plastics, wood, and fabric. As you can see by the variety of Film Star Creations handbags in our collection, this only seemed to enhance their creativity.

Feb. 24, 1946, the Evansville Press. Clipped via Newspapers.com.

Film Star Creations belt, Feb. 7, 1947, The Times Leader, clipped via Newspapers.com.

Eventually, Film Star handbags were made in conjunction with shoe manufacturers' products. As many fashion aficionados know, coordinating handbags and shoes were very popular for decades. During our research of numerous handbag makers, we’ve found quite a few collaborations between shoe and bag companies.

Film Star Creations two-tone handbag, in the popular box bag style, originally sold to match Ferncraft shoes. From the collection of The Vintage Purse Museum.

October 10, 1952, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser with a sketch of the same bag in the above photo. These were sold with a coordinating pair of shoes by Ferncraft. Clipped via Newspapers.com.

In 1953, Film Star Creations moved to its final location, 936 S. Maple Ave. An address directory we found on the Internet Archive shows that their offices were on the third floor. (This area is known as the Los Angeles Fashion District.)

Film Star Creations plastic mesh and suede bag. From the collection of The Vintage Purse Museum.

Original box that came with bag above.

Ad for a Film Star Creations bag similar to ours above, along with matching shoes by A'mano, June 8, 1952, the San Antonio Light. Clipped via Newspapers.com.

In 1956, Charles Goldman created "Footsies," a sachet-scented toe form, to be worn inside the toe portion of then-trending backless shoes (mules), to provide support, hold shoe shape, and absorb moisture. It was reported in an industry publication that he sold 800 dozen pairs in just three weeks.

Charles Goldman also had a handbag line called "Charles Originals made by Film Stars." We currently have one Charles Originals handbag in our collection (pictured directly below). 

Charles Originals made by Film Stars animal-print handbag. From the collection of The Vintage Purse Museum.

Label inside bag above.

Ad for a variety of Charles Original(s) handbags, October 5, 1961, the San Angelo Standard Times. Clipped via Newspapers.com.

The most recent newspaper ad we could find for Film Star Creations was from September 1960, and it was for silver and gold cosmetic bags. The most recent advertisement we found for Charles Originals is the one pictured directly above (misspelled as "Original," without the "s"). 

Even though Film Star Creations was established eight decades ago, we were sad when we saw the 1961 liquidation notice of its assets. (Ad below.) We don't know what led to the closure of the business.

November 26, 1961, Film Star Creations liquidation sale, The Los Angeles Times. Clipped via subscription to Newspapers.com.

Charles S. Goldman passed away in 1968 in Los Angeles, California at age 61. The Goldman family kindly shared that after Charles's death, his wife Pearl, an accomplished businesswoman, started a multiline showroom (featuring hats, handbags, and accessories) at the Los Angeles Fashion Mart. The showroom was eventually taken over by one of Charles and Pearl's children. Pearl eventually remarried, and relocated to the Palm Springs area, where her second husband (name withheld for privacy) had a shoe store for decades. She ran the store after his death in 1995, and closed it in 2007. 

We find it quite the full circle for Pearl to work in an industry similar to the one she'd been in with Charles so many years earlier. According to a newspaper article about the shoe store's closure, she said she planned, at age 94, to stay busy. "I like being around people," she said. "Retiring is not so exciting."

Photo of Pearl Goldman (married name withheld) at the closing of her and her second husband's shoe store, Dec. 9, 2007, The Desert Sun. Clipped via Newspapers.com.

Pearl Goldman passed away in 2013. Pearl and Charles Goldman's children have also passed, but a family friend told us that the child who took over Pearl's showroom business had a successful career in the fashion industry.

As with most of our handbag history articles, we knew our research of Film Star Creations would be a matter of putting together puzzle pieces, which sometimes leads to those "aha" (out loud!) moments. However, what we found truly remarkable was when we learned that Charles S. Goldman overcame great odds very early in life. With the support of his parents, and the miraculous discovery of insulin, he went on to have a family and become an entrepreneur. And, luckily for today's vintage clothing and accessories enthusiasts, he left us the legacy of beautiful, well-made bags.

This article c2026 by Wendy Dager/The Vintage Purse Museum. Special thanks to the family of Charles Goldman, and to the friend of Mr. Goldman's child. Resources used were MyHeritage.com and Newspapers.com, to which we have paid subscriptions. Other resources were Familysearch.org, Internet Archive, and Google. Please do not use photos or information from our website without requesting permission, vintagepursemuseum@gmail.com.