Yesterday’s photo of a Helms delivery truck evoked so many memories among people that I googled for other pics of Helms trucks. I didn’t find many, but I did find this photo taken while the Helms Bakery building at 8800 Venice Blvd in Culver City was still under construction. According to everything I could find, it opened for business on March 2, 1931 with 32 employees and 11 delivery trucks. But the date at the bottom of this photo reads December 20, 1933, so I don’t know what to make of that. Regardless of the actual date, this image is a glorious snapshot of a business that touched millions of LA lives in the nearly 40 years Helms was in business.
Helms Bakery is no longer in business, but the building is still around. This image is from December 2022.
Thanks Martin, I just love that building and all of the history behind it. Also love the old cars. What fun it must have been to see and hear those delivery trucks.
To see and hear AND SMELL them. A lot of people left comments on my Facebook page about they could remember the smell when the guy opened the drawers full of fresh-baked goods.
Martin, both dates you list are probably correct. The links you provided above have photos of additional construction after it was first in operation. There’s a wealth of information, including photos and videos, for those who remember the Helms Bakery and it’s trucks and want to delve into it further. In fact, they still have a hand in baking things at that “Helms Bakery District” as well a restaurant and you can sign up for a newsletter to keep abreast of all that’s happening there. Helm’s is still around! They have kept that building and turned it into something new, but still grand! And it’s just one block east of the Metro Expo Line!
Ah, yes, fair point. Further construction taking place after the original building opened.
It should be acknowledged that Helms Bakery was the supplier of bread for world athletes during the 1932 Olympic Games.
Yes, a great marketing tool for them in their formative years! There’s some related photos at the link, including employees having an Olympic-nic!
“Olympic-nic” – I love that!