The movie museum needs a new roof and you could score a vintage treasure

Hollywood has always come together for the barn. The Hollywood Heritage Museum, housed in the historic Lasky-DeMille barn across from the Hollywood Bowl, needs a new roof. The 125-year-old clapboard landmark was originally built near Selma and Vine as a shelter for horses and lemons. It ended up being the studio where DeMille produced The Squaw Man in 1914, the first feature-length motion picture made in Hollywood.

Eleanor Powell and Glenn Ford view the menu for a Hollywood restaurant in 1954Credit: Photo: Los Angeles Public Library

The building has been a museum for over 40 years, and the old-timer needs help. Hollywood Heritage, the non-profit that operates the museum, is having a book and memorabilia sale to raise funds for repairs. The club’s members and friends have donated books, vintage magazines, DVDs and movie posters. Peter Ford, son of actors Glenn Ford and Eleanor Powell, sent over 700 pounds of pure Old Hollywood memorabilia that had to be trucked in on a pallet. Ford saved much of it from his parents’ careers, including lobby cards, press books and photos. The Motion Picture and Television Fund sent over celebrity-owned items from the residents of their rest home in Woodland Hills.

The sale will go on for five days at the museum, which is already closed for the repairs. Phase one paid for the vintage-style shingles, and proceeds from this sale will go towards installation. “When you stock up on entertainment related books to further your knowledge of Hollywood history,” the group said in a missive. “You are helping to maintain Hollywood’s oldest, remaining studio building.”

Inside the Hollywood Heritage MuseumCredit: Photo by Chris Nichols

Hollywood Heritage book, media & memorabilia sale
Free admission, donations are tax-deductible

Hollywood Heritage Museum
2100 N. Highland Avenue, Hollywood

Saturday, August 29 from 11am – 3pm
Sunday, August 30 from  9am – 2pm
Thursday, September 3 from 11am – 3pm
Saturday, September 5  from 11am – 3pm
Sunday, September 6 from 11am – 3pm