Van de Kamp’s Dutch bakeries were a ubiquitous sight on the streets of Los Angeles for most of the first half of the 20th century. They were bright blue and—as we can see in this 1935 photo—featured a windmill on top of their store, so they were hard to miss. And also hard to walk by when you could smell what they had on offer inside. This particular one was on the northwest corner Beverly Blvd and Westmoreland St at the southwestern edge of Silver Lake.
Gary H says: “Its hard to believe that Van de Kamps, Tam O’Shanter, and Lawry’s began when Theodore J. Van de Kamp and Lawrence L. Frank opened a potato chip stand in 1915! You can see the basic shape of Van de Kamp’s in the building of Joseph’s on Ivar between Hollywood Blvd and Yucca. Fun fact: the first screenwriter for the original Frankenstein movie was living at the Knickerbocker while he wrote it. Most of his screenplay didn’t make it to the screen after he was let go, but the inspiration of the pivotal windmill scene comes from him seeing this Van de Kamps out of his hotel room window! This is that same corner in July 2022. It looks rather forlorn now, but you can see the same house in the background of both images.”
I certainly remember them. But by the time I was in my early teens, there weren’t as many freestanding bakeries. They mostly sold their baked goods in supermarkets.
Totally depressing!!!! Why is it Martin every current photo you show us looks like skid row? What in the hell has happened to your city???
It’s called “progress” doncha know?! But this “now” photo was one of the worst.
In the 1970’s I remember seeing a lot of windmill-themed establishments along the highways in Central and Southern California. I moved away for a couple decades, and when I returned they seemed to have mostly disappeared. There are still a few, notably in Solvang, a place that had a lot of Danish immigrants a hundred years ago. Danish windmill-themed restaurant Pea Soup Andersons also still exists along the I-5 and the 99. Interesting that such a relatively small number of people had such as lasting effect on culture in California. The Dutch and Danish -the windmill people.
Me again………with a little more history ..This time to tell you all about growing up with the Van de Kamps and Franks who owned Lawry’s. They were close friends of my parents. Not sure you know that Lawrence Frank (Lawry’s) was married to Ted Van de Kamps sister. The two men started out in business together before they became famous!