Friday, January 19, 2024

Bullocks Wilshire & Small Things Found In The Shed

Mark and I were going through my shed to clean it out last year. We made progress, but there's still much to do and we should continue when it gets warmer. These are the small things we found.


A tiny Long Haul van.

A sled.

A small candle holder.


This candle set from Macy's/Bullocks is a classic. 

Some history below:

Bullocks was a chain of department stores, headquartered in Los Angeles from 1907 through 1995 and operated across California, Arizona and Nevada. Bullocks Wilshire was an upscale version of the store operated across Southern California. 



Bullocks Wilshire
Photo: Antoine Taveneaux

No longer a store, the Art Deco building is on The U.S. National Registry of Historic Places.

There was also a Bullocks in Westwood, home to UCLA, where I worked for over 30 years. My friends and I delighted in going for tea and finger sandwiches at Bullocks on our lunch hour. The dining room was elegant, the service was wonderful, the tea and sandwiches perfect. 

I'm not as familiar with Macy's but we all know of their flagship store in New York City and their Thanksgiving Day parade.

I checked and found that there are currently three Macy's in Los Angles, although I have no memory of them at all, it's likely I visited one of them during my many years living in L.A.

So now I guess that Bullocks was extirpated as well. 

Sorry, I just felt a need to show off this new word I recently learned: extirpate. This will be the end of that, though, as I really don't like that word, particularly as it relates to animals. 

N.B.

For those of you who don't know, English is my second language and I'm always happy to add a new word to my vocabulary.




15 comments:

  1. I like the things you found in your shed. Miniatures always delight the eye.
    I don't like the word extirpate or what it entails.

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  2. Hari OM
    So many old stores are disappearing under the pall and weight of multichain stores... and internet sales. Decluttering storage places always reveals how much we hold on to - always fun! YAM xx

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  3. As someone who has spoken and written English all my life I too am always happy to learn a new word. It’s then fun to use it, as you have discovered.

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  4. You found small things that are big treasures. The candle holder is a lovely item!
    (Re to your PS - English is my third language, after romanian and hebrew; so I sometimes struggle with words, but am always glad to add a new one to my vocabulary).

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  5. the truck and the sled are really cute. I am thinking the two of them and the candle holder my be worth a sale on ebay. quite a find out there. did you keep them? or let Mark take them

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  6. forgot to say, our mall that is now boarded up had a Macy's for quite a few years. the anchor stores were penneys, sears, macy and I forget the 4th one.

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  7. the van is a hot wheels, and can still be bought, it looks larger than a hotwheels, the sled says vintage for a doll house. i did the google search

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    Replies
    1. The van is very tiny, smaller than the sled.

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  8. About 1980 we had a Bullocks up here. It was a big white tent in the mall. Unfortunately this new innovative mall closed down 6 years later.
    I’m a Macy’s fan. I used to work evenings after my husband came home while my boys were babies. Every time I would get ready to go in, my preschooler would cry. He called my shoes, “Macy’s shoes” because they took me away from him.
    We still have Macys up here in Northern California.


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  9. I think we had a Bullocks in West Covina at Eastland Mall. Now I have to google that. Hope all is well with you.

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  10. I guess a definition of this word would be demolish. I have never heard of these stores, except for Macy's of course. How much I fondly remember when lunch counters were in stores! Especially in the Five & Dimes. And tea rooms in the fancier stores. the sled is unusual looking.

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  11. I like the little candle stick.

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  12. How fun to have found those little treasures. A blast from the past, as they say. The candles can always be useful.
    I need to clean my garden sheds too but I won't find any treasures in there and a lot has to go. My husband keeps even broken tools and stuff just in case he may need it some day but when he needs something, he goes and buys a new one because he can't find anything. lol...

    Take care, hugs
    Julia

    So many of our good large department stores have disappeared here too. It's very sad. The people who used to work in those stores were long termed employees, unlike what we see today. I truly miss those good old stores with super friendly staffs.



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  13. The world has changed so much... Bullocks, Buffum's, Broadway (the list goes on). I never thought I would see these iconic stores collapse and disappear.

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