The Bullock's Department Store Collection consists of 680 photographs, 2 boxes of ephemera related to Bullock's publicity and events, and 29 glass plate negatives, 1905-1971 (bulk 1912-1945). It focuses primarily on the retail spaces, displays, departments, and employees at the downtown Los Angeles store once located at Broadway, 7th, and Hill Streets. The photographs document the various functions associated with the store including the full range of departments; window displays; store merchandising; employee activities and gatherings; children’s parties and parades; advertising billboards; the August sales event and crowds; and construction scenes from 1912 and 1928. Photographers include Warren Bowen Studios; Brown and Warrington; duBois Photo Co.; Frank C. Elliott; Jim England; Graham Photo; Keystone Photo; J.C. Milligan; Ernest Pratt; Otto Rothschild; Stagg Photography; Art Streib; "Dick" Whittington Studio; Whitland Locke Commercial Photography; and Witzel Photo.

The original Bullock’s Department Store was designed by the architectural firm of Parkinson and Bergstrom and opened in March 1907 at 639-657 South Broadway in Los Angeles. Bullock’s flagship store proved so successful that it expanded quarters in 1912. The company purchased adjacent buildings in 1917 and 1919 for a total of 460,000 square feet. "By 1920," writes Richard Longstreth, "Bullock’s and Robinson’s functioned as anchors to an elite shopping precinct that was unprecedented in Los Angeles." Between 1923 and 1928, Bullock’s added an additional 400,000 square feet through the construction of three more additions while also purchasing two adjacent buildings. Bullock’s Inc. eventually opened a second store on Wilshire Boulevard (1929) as well as additional stores in Westwood Village (1932), Pasadena (1947), and Fashion Square in Orange County (1958).

15.38 linear feet, 15 boxes

All requests for permission to publish photographs must be submitted in writing to the Curator of Photographs. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the Huntington as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained.