The Bullocks Wilshire department store on Wilshire Blvd is one of those Los Angeles buildings that I never get sick of looking at. It’s also one of the buildings that has survived the unrelenting onslaught of progress, which is amazing considering the store opened on September 26, 1929 and a month later the stock market crashed and along with it the entire economy. But it survived that and went on to thrive as L.A. became a car-oriented city and Bullock’s was a “carriage trade” oriented store. This photo was taken around the late 1930s, by which time Bullocks Wilshire had established itself as one of L.A. premier shopping experiences.

I would normally post an image showing what this building looks like today but Google Maps has disabled their Street View feature, so here’s an auto-colorized version instead:

Andrew S. says: “The plan started In 1922. John G. Bullock and his investors bought the house on s/w corner of Wilshire and Vermont from Mr William Lacy, built by Sumner P. Hunt. Bullock moved that house to Windsor Sq. 627 S. Plymouth using the Kress House Moving Company, leaving the s/w corner bare. By 1929 when the store was finally opened, Bullocks chose a site a few blocks east from that corner of Vermont, which was considered too noisy and busy by the store. But they did use the 3200 Wilshire corner for billboard space.”