Crowds gather outside the May Co. department store at 803 S. Broadway, downtown Los Angeles, 1931

Crowds gather outside the May Co. department store at 803 S. Broadway, downtown Los Angeles, 1931In 1931, the May Co department store went all out to celebrate their 50th anniversary. Technically, it was the 50th anniversary of Hamburger’s department store which later merged with the May Co. But hey, any excuse for a big celebration/publicity campaign. Here we can see May’s store at 803 S. Broadway, where shoppers have gathered in front of a horse-drawn streetcar, which would have been the primary mode of public transportation in 1881. I wonder which poor May Co employee drew the short straw and was on horse hockey patrol.

This is how the interior of the store looked that year:

May Company - Hamburgers department store interior, Los Angeles, 1931

From the looks of this February 2023 image, the old Hamburger’s/May Co building is still there and under renovation behind that graffiti-filled fence.

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4 responses to “Crowds gather outside the May Co. department store at 803 S. Broadway, downtown Los Angeles, 1931”

  1. Gordon L Pattison says:

    Look at the guys standing on the skinny ledge high above the people on the sidewalk below! Looks pretty dangerous to me.

  2. Bill Wolfe says:

    I may be mistaken, but I think this building is now used for State office buildings. (I will happily defer to anyone who knows more than me.)

  3. Gordon Pattison says:

    The old Broadway store at 4th and Broadway is a government office building.

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