Bullocks Wilshire Open House

The doors of Bullocks Wilshire swished opened the last weekend of July for an annual open house, a summer affair held once Southwestern Law School students have emptied the building. Though I’ve been fortunate to tour the Art Deco gem many times under its current management, I still take every opportunity to explore the historic department store. Even in the most familiar landmarks, there are always new experiences to enjoy.

For me, often those “new experiences” come in the form of personal stories and memories that Angelenos bring to these historic spaces. Not surprisingly, many who attend the Bullocks Wilshire Open House do so because they, or their parents or grandparents, once shopped or worked in these richly-decorated rooms. And on this day, I ran into a friend who brought her mother full of stories of working here as a Christmas wrapper in the 1960s. In response, I shared that my grandmother once worked as Christmas help for Bullock’s downtown in 1919, but it was my mom who shopped regularly at this Wilshire Blvd store as she worked across the street for a number of years.

The five-minute chat with my friend and her mother turned into an hour-long conversation right there in the Louix XVI room. Family memories of Bullock’s sparked a lengthy conversation that meandered through the different and similar ways our family’s stories wove through Los Angeles history. Frankly, I could’ve sat in those faux-french chairs for another hour exploring the nooks and crannies of all those life stories. We did pause for a moment to admire the setting of our amazing conversation — the luxurious red-carpeted designer dress showroom with golden accents and crystal chandeliers. My mom would’ve LOVED this conversational moment and it was definitely a highlight of my week!

One thing about me is that I bring a traveling guestbook when I’m out and about in the world. Part autograph book and part yearbook, this traveling guestbook is a way to document adventures through the handwritten words of others. Now currently on my fourth book (and the first since Covid), I love reading over these entries of family, friends and, in some cases, prominent Angelenos. So I pulled out the guestbook at the Bullocks Wilshire Open House and my friend and her mother graciously jotted down a few lines. I mention this traveling guestbook as I was bemused to find a paragraph in the Los Angeles Evening Express (1930) suggesting a Bullocks Wilshire guestbook:

In September 1930, reporter Ann Sumner wrote about the one-year anniversary of this “monument to modern merchandising and the progress of Los Angeles.” Sumner acknowledged that there was little fanfare for the department store’s first-year anniversary and then suggested a guestbook should be used to document all those who have walked through the doors. I like to think that Ann Sumner would be heartened to know that Angelenos have continued to celebrate this landmark and its subsequent anniversaries even as law books have replaced designer accessories on the ornate built-in shelves. Perhaps there is no Bullocks Wilshire guestbook (that we know of), but the Art Deco landmark continues to inspire Angelenos to share and document those who have graced its doorway nine decades later.

Until next year Bullocks Wilshire!!

If you would like to receive announcements of upcoming public events at Bullocks Wilshire, sign up for the mailing list for the Friends of Bullocks Wilshire… or better yet, join Friends of Bullocks Wilshire.