J.B. Nethercutt

Nethercutt was born in South Bend, Indiana, United States, to Carl and Florence Nethercutt with two other siblings.[5] At the age of 9, his mother died and he moved to Santa Monica, California in 1923 to live with his aunt, Merle Norman and her husband Andy Norman.[1] He attended Santa Monica High School and later enrolled to study chemistry at the California Institute of Technology.[6] During his time in college, his aunt had created a small local cosmetics business in her home, making formulas out of her own kitchen. He dropped out of college to help his aunt to help establish the business.[7]

In 1931, Nethercutt's aunt spent $150 to open a small local cosmetics studio named Merle Norman Cosmetics in downtown Santa Monica to sell their homemade products.[8] Norman created the products and Nethercutt peddled to dealers on his bicycle, picking up disregarded boxes from groceries for packing shipments.[9] By 1934, the company had expanded to 94 independently owned franchises across the contiguous United States, with the majority of them being owned by women.[10][8] Nethercutt later served as Vice-Chairman of Merle Norman until Norman stepped down in 1963.

In 1969, Nethercutt decided to make the previously private family owned enterprise go public on the American Stock Exchange. In 1974, Nethercutt purchased all the public stock back at roughly US$10 million, roughly $55 million adjusted for inflation.[11] Following his purchase, he would again make Merle Norman a privately owned company.[12]

Under his tenure, Merle Norman was recognized as one of the top 10 largest American cosmetic companies by People magazine.[13] By 1981, Nethercutt spent $5 million on Merle Norman's first nationwide advertising campaign, which had previously only used word-of-mouth marketing. The company also had begun experimentally selling in European markets, specifically Switzerland and Austria, which attained $1 million in the first year. By the end of 1981, Merle Norman as a whole made over US$130 million and had expanded to over 2,700 studios in the US and Canada.[8]

A studio with his 1999 era design

In 1993 Nethercutt stepped down as CEO but remained the chairman of the board. In 1999 he directed the refurbishment of all Merle Norman studios in North America for a universal consistent interior design, which was last updated in the late 70s.[14]

By 2004, Merle Norman had expanded to 8 countries internationally and was consistently in the top 50 of the Entrepreneur magazine Franchise 500.[15] The company had a revenue of over $100 million and he passed the company down to his son, Jack Nethercutt II.[1]

In 1956, J.B. Nethercutt purchased two cars, a 1936 Duesenberg Convertible Roadster for $5,000 and a 1930 DuPont Town Car for $500, which both needed restoration. Nethercutt estimated the restoration of the DuPont would take a few weeks, but ended up taking over 18 months and over $65,000.[7] In 1958, his prolonged project to rebuild his DuPont was not in vain and he won Best of Show at the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance.[16][17]

Grand Salon of the Collection

In 1971, J.B. Nethercutt purchased a large land lot in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Sylmar. Construction began on a six story tower to house his vehicles and other antique collections, featuring his private penthouse on the top floor.[18] The Nethercutt Collection was built next to a Merle Norman manufacturing plant.[16] The first two stories of the tower; the Lower and Grand Salon, feature his vehicle collection on display. The third story features an awards room and collection of hood ornaments. The fourth story consists of a music room with several large antique music boxes and player pianos, with a Wurlitzer theatre organ in the centerpiece of the room. The fourth floor also featured a Louis XV styled dining room with a private chef for his family and friends. The fifth floor has a theatre and a large collection of pianos. The top floor featured his private Penthouse.[18] The collection's first 4 floors are open to the public free of charge with guided tours.[19]

In the early 2000s, the Nethercutt Collection expanded and a new display building directly across the street was constructed and called the Nethercutt Museum, which self-guided. Outside of the Museum contains his CPR steam locomotive Royal Hudson Nr. 2839 with a 1912 Pullman private car.[20]

By 2004, Nethercutt Collection and Museum included nearly 250 automobiles and led Autoweek to call the Nethercutt Collection one of America's five greatest automobile museums.[21] With the company, he also passed the Collection down to his son Jack with his wife, Helen Nethercutt.[17]

J.B. Nethercutt competed in dozens of Concours d'Elegance shows in North America with his cars from the Collection.[22] By 2004, J.B. Nethercutt was one of the most victorious competitors overall and had won several dozen of Best of Show awards, notably including the highly prestigious Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance 6 times; 1958, 1959, 1969, 1970, 1980, and 1992, more than any other individual.[17][23]

J.B. and his son, Jack

J.B. Nethercutt married his high school sweetheart Dorothy Sykes in 1933. Their marriage lasted over 70 years and they had two children, Jack and Robert.[24] They later had two grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. Through Jack and his wife Helen he had three step great-grandchildren, the Richards boys.[1][25]

Every year, Nethercutt would take dozens of cars from the Collection with family, friends, and invited guests on a cruise through the hills to a picnic at Frazier Park with catered foods from the professional chefs at the Collection. The event was described as one of the most exclusive items on any car lovers wish list as Autoweek magazine puts it, "You can be as rich as Bill Gates or have a collection as big as that of the Sultan of Brunei, but you don’t get a personal invitation from J.B. Nethercutt himself."[26]

Nethercutt loved fishing and was a frequent visitor to the Lake of the Woods near Kenora, Canada, he later purchased a private island on the lake.[27] In 1985 he donated $1 million to the town for a new emergency department.[28] Later the center and the road connecting it was named in honor after him.[29]

J.B. Nethercutt was friends with fellow Los Angeles based car enthusiasts and collectors Jay Leno, Barry Meguiar, and Bruce Meyer.[1][30] Leno described J.B.'s collection as a “Smithsonian-style effort on the history of transportation in America" and "the hall of fame for cars.[31]

The Nethercutt Emergency Center at the UCLA Medical Center, Santa Monica is named after J.B. Nethercutt.[34][35]

Nethercutt died on December 6, 2004 in Santa Monica.[31]