Assembled from vintage film equipement found at an estate sale in West Hollywood, California in 2015. The property belonged to a woman who had passed in 2014. She was the niece of Walter and Lee Plunkett. The film cans, reels and equipment belonged to her uncles and were abandoned in a garage workshop. Walter Plunkett was a very famous costume designer during the golden age of Hollywood. You may not know his name, but it is certain you know his work.  His film bio reads:

The brilliant and talented Walter Plunkett was born June 5, 1902, to James and Frances Plunkett of Oakland, California. He studied law at the University of California, but was hardly as interested in becoming an attorney as he was in his involvement with the campus' theatrical group. Making the quick change in careers, Walter moved to New York in 1923, where he began work as an actor, as well as a costume and set designer, on the stage. He drifted through the gay circles of Greenwich Village and was referred to Hollywood. He moved back to California, this time to the movie capital, and found work as an extra. He can be spotted dancing with Irene, another future top designer, in Erich von Stroheim's The Merry Widow (1925). In 1927, Walter's first (credited) work as a costume designer first appeared on screen for Hard-Boiled Haggerty (1927). He also created the iconic costumes for the original King Kong (1933). For the live action scenes of the Ape Walter was the actor inside the costume. During the late twenties and early thirties, while working at RKO, Plunkett managed to fashion the enormous costume and wardrobe department into a department that was both efficient and creative. With so much free reign, Walter set about creating outstanding costumes that rivaled the work of his contemporaries, such as Travis Banton and Adrian. His two best-known films were Gone with the Wind (1939) (including that dress made from green velvet drapes, probably the most famous movie costume of all time), and Singin' in the Rain (1952), in which he lampooned the very style his work had begun in (the roaring 20s). Walter was well-liked by most people for his generous and easy-going nature, as well as his inventiveness and ingenuity. Walter retired from films and spent the last years of his life with his partner Lee. He died in 1982, leaving Lee his estate.

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