Helms Bakery
The Helms Bakery was built by Paul Helms, who moved out to Culver City, CA from New York for health reasons in 1926 and opened the bakery in 1931. Never sold in stores, Helms Bakery delivered fresh bread and donuts to homes all around Southern California on a daily basis. The bakery sent trucks to such distant locations as Fresno, San Bernadino, San Diego and even the Moon (where Helms sent the first loaf of bread on Apollo 11 in 1969.) Featuring the company motto, "Daily to your door," apparently the trucks had a distinctive whistle, which echoed though neighborhoods in Southern California for thirty-eight years. They gave regular tours to school children, giving each one a paper replica of the Helms Coach and a small loaf of bread. Helms was an avid supporter of sports. The field at Culver High still bears the Helms name. They were the official bread of the Olympics in 1932, when they were first held in Los Angeles, which accounts for the Olympic rings still promenantly displayed all over the bakery.
Paul Helms believed in being good to his workers, greeting all by name on the floor of the bakery. To date, former Helms employees still gather for company picnics, many of which are held on site, though the company closed its doors in 1969 (twelve years after Paul Helms' death), due to competition from supermarkets and other cultural changes.
The Helms Bakery still straddles the line between Culver City and Los Angeles, it's "zig-zag Moderne" style bringing sophistication to the urban sprawl. It has been declared a landmark of Culver City, and remade into a center for decorative arts. It features two fine restaurants, Beacon and La Dijonaise, a number of furniture companies, including H.D. Buttercup, and La Bella Cosa and the Jazz Bakery, where they feature jazz greats and occasionally theatrical performances. They also have a museum on site where bread making implenments and even a Helms Coach can be viewed.
Helms Bakery, 8800 Venice Boulevard, at Helms Avenue, Culver City, CA
posted by kuaptic. @ 9:54 AM
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