Palm Trees, a Famous Bakery, and Mexican Food
First opening in 1931, family-owned and -operated Helms Bakery supplied local residents with its fresh-baked bread delivered “Daily at Your Door” (the Helms motto) for over 40 years. Even though the bakery is no longer baking, the Helms Bakery building remains a cherished local landmark.
Opening his bakery in 1926, Paul Helms started small but worked his way to being the premiere “neighborhood” bakery in Los Angeles. Winning the contract for the 1932 Olympics, Helms Bakery grew from its original 32 employees and 11 coaches (horse driven vehicles that delivered the freshly baked bread) to having the Helms Coaches deliver as far north as Fresno, east to San Bernardino, south to San Diego and up to the moon.
In 1969, an aggressive marketing campaign netted Helms a contract to furnish the first bread on the moon, via Apollo 11. Although their products were never sold in stores, Helms Bakeries became one of the major employers in the city.
This is remarkable because the network of freeways had not yet been built, so the trip might have taken an hour or more. Each truck would travel through its assigned neighborhoods, with the driver periodically pulling (twice) on a large handle which sounded a distinctive whistle. Customers would come out and wave the truck down, or sometimes chase the trucks to adjacent streets. Wooden drawers in the back of the truck were stocked with fresh donuts, cookies and pastries, while the center section of the truck carried dozens of loaves of freshly-baked bread. Products often reached the buyers still warm from the oven.
Now, the bakery building is the rock of the Helms Bakery District, a mecca of contemporary furniture retailers, delicious cuisine, and unique shops. Just walking around the streets and window shopping brought to mind the various rooms in my house and different design ideas I’d love to do.
Stopping for a quick bite to eat, I dropped in at Campos, a local Mexican restaurant chain. It’s not fancy, but the food is inexpensive, tastes good, and is very filling. I enjoyed the $5.00 lunch special; an enchilada, rice, and refried beans. They have a great selection of salsas to compliment my meal. I love to add a bit of spice to my rice and beans.
After you finish shopping and eating, you can walk a few blocks down National where you reach the area’s Conjunctive Points–an innovative industrial park. So bring your walking shoes and your four-legged friends.
Culver City, with its wealth of history, is definitely a warm and welcoming part of Travelin’ Local in Los Angeles.
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I’m trying to leave this comment on “Architecture as Art”, but for some reason I keep getting taken to the comments page for “Palm Trees, a Famous Bakery, and Mexican Food” instead. Odd.
Anyhow — what cool architecture! And because I am a winter partisan, I must say that you couldn’t build anything like that if you have to keep snow-loads in mind — sadly. Keep up the cool articles!
dc’s last blog post..Blue is the color of winter
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You know what cracks me up about Mexican food (at least americanized Mexican food)? You have to know and love Mexican food to appreciate photos of it. To a layman, that looks like a really sloppy dish and – frankly – I can imagine that it might not look appealing to someone. But as a huge fan myself, I can tell that’s probably pretty good eats – even though it’s not fancy.
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I always enjoy these! So much fun to read! Thank you and have a nice weekend!
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Hi Lisa……. Are you aware that Helm’s Bakery is a great place to follow the jazz scene. It’s called the “Jazz Bakery” and there are performances several times a week.
http://www.jazzbakery.com/
Hey, do you know anyone in the baking biz? LOL
Keep up the good work…..
Frank
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I never knew where the moon people got bread, or even that they had bread.
What a great little piece of history! Shame on you for making me crave an enchilada!
Lisa’s Chaos’s last blog post..On The Magic Bus
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@dc I’ll look into this issue; thanks for the heads up. After living for many years on the East Coast and Midwest, plus, my brother-in-law is in construction in Ohio, I’m aware of the problems with building in the winter. Sadly, climate does create its own issues.
@D. Travis North Definitely not fancy, but it did taste pretty good, especially for the $5.00 lunch. I totally understand what you’re talking about as far as the looks. It might not look the best, and I know looks are important, but where Mexican food is concerned, looks are only part of the equation………………..:)
@Mark Thanks, and you have a great weekend, too.
@Frank Thanks for the heads-up on the jazz. I’ll definitly put this on my to-do list. I love jazz………………..:) And yes, I do know someone in the baking biz. Who knew……………:)?
@Lisa Chaos Sorry about the food cravings. You’ll just have to come to LA and share an enchilada with me…………..:)
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You pictures are making me hungry!
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Hi Friend.. Interesting post.. Nice cool blog with exciting stuffs.. Keep up the good work.. Do visit my blog and post your comments.. Take care mate.. Cheers!!!
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@Stacey I hope you got something to eat……………..:)
@goldensparks Thanks, and I’ll be sure to check it out.
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I remember the Helms Bakery truck coming into our neighborhood when I was a little girl. My mother would let my sister and I get a cream puff to share. Yummy memories:)
sharon’s last blog post..back to the track…again
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@sharon Oh, I wish I could have tasted those cream puffs. I bet they were delicious……:)
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I think I can remember seeing the Helms Bakery truck in my neighborhood the 1960’s. Interesting post but now I’m craving bread and Mexican food.
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@Diane C. I came too late to see the trucks, but I wish I had…………..:)
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