Art Deco Los Angeles – Bullock’s Wilshire

Bullock’s Wilshire was the first department store designed to accommodate the car. Huge artfully dressed windows faced the street to attract traffic and the entrance was in the back under a porte-cochere where liveried attendants parked your Nash or Packard.

Architects John and Donald Parkinson – built 1929 – architectural rendering:

The store served the likes of Marlene Dietrich, the DeMilles and Mr. and Mrs. Disney… And, before Angela Lansbury landed an acting gig she was a sales clerk.

The tower is 241 feet tall, sheathed in copper, and back in the day was topped with a light that could be seen for miles around.

A Bullock’s Wilshire model displaying silk pajamas for the discerning shopper.

And no, my darlings, these do not in the slightest resemble the pajamas we bloggers are reputed to wear. Until tomorrow, Vickie

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6 Comments

  1. August 7, 2012

    Thanks for this entry — have never seen the rendering before.

    For more on Bullocks Wilshire, including information on a famed film designer who worked there for some years, visit http://carole-and-co.livejournal.com/445941.html

  2. July 26, 2014

    Your pajamas are not like this? I am disappointed. 🙁

    • July 26, 2014

      It’s too hot for silk right now, anyway! xox, V

  3. Heather in Arles
    July 26, 2014

    Can someone explain to me why we no longer wear such pyjamas? Anyone? I am certainly game.

    • July 26, 2014

      I think it has to do with mass production and cheap labor…

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