Bullocks Wilshire Library | Visiting with Huell Howser | KCET

Huell revisits the beautiful Bullocks Wilshire building, which is now the home of Southwestern University's law library.

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[Luzanne.]

I’m a Native Angeleno who didn’t know much about Southwestern Law School, but this restoration effort puts it on the map for me. Thank you for highlighting and celebrating the preservation work in a town where far too many historic properties are razed.

[rudygalindo]

I'm sending a prayer to Huell Howser thanking him for documenting
Bullock's Wilshire and it's employees. The respect and graciousness of his interviewing manner honored the memories of my father, Rudolph Galindo and his thirty- eight years of employment at this Store. The ending interview with the elevator operator was a heavenly shout out to my father who first started his employment at Bullock's as an elevator operator
in 1940's.

[shwmehvn]

I remember this place, it was so beautiful. God bless my gay uncle who loved department stores and took me to shop at these palaces: Bullocks, The Broadway, Robinson’s, Buffums, May Co., Silverwoods, Or’Bachs, I.Magnin.
Bless the sales people-they loved their jobs and were classy professionals.

[stephanyjane]

Sigh, how can I have such nostalgia for a place or time I never lived or visited..

[charleskrahmalkov]

Very nostalgic. In the early 1950's, I worked in the building as a wrapper and boxer in the basement; my aunt was a saleswoman.

[stan.rarick]

I wish that they'd include the original air dates of all of these programs. I remember a lot of them

[IbelongtoNYC]

Bullock's was never a department store. It was a Speciality Store, like Bergdorf Goodman, B. Altman & Co., , and Sak's Fifth Avenue. The first Chanel shop in California was at Bullock's. There's a group called the Friends of Bullock's Wilshire and once a year, usually in July, for one day they open the building for touring and the tea room serves lunch using original recipes.

[ozzleoni]

The Superman line was "faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, able to leap tall buildings in a single bound."
Thanks, KCET, for making all the HH series available. Huel Howser was the best of California's Gold.

[chrism]

It was wonderful to me to watch this tour of a place with so much history and be able to look back at how things once were, and the endearment to preserve that past. My most favorite part was listening and watching Huell draw such poignant and sense deep sense of loss from the patrons and staff on closing day.
I was a fan of Huell and his series. RIP

[tonyvargas]

I was in this store back in about 1986 and it was impressive. I am sad that i never went up to the tea room.

The saddest day for this store was when it was looted during the riots in 1992. It provided a perfect excuse for Macy's to close it.

[ThomasDaly-ugyc]

Great Look back, thanks Huell and KCET.

[katiealdana]

Amazing to see it last thru 93❣️How Grand💎 Great tour on last day. Beautiful Tea room. Bring it back. Progress…. Killing it. Just sad to see it degraded for a library…. Boo hoo 😢

[james-p]

My Grandmother managed the Tea Room for some time - I kept hoping I'd see her in that segment of the show. Anyway, I used to go there a lot when I was kid because I'd get her employee discount (otherwise the Tea Room was a bit too pricey for me lol). She'd always give me very nice clothes from there for Christmas too. I loved Bullocks Wilshire and was really sad when it closed. Robinsons down at Wilshire and Santa Monica was very nice as well, way better than any other store except Bullocks Wilshire, but it closed too. They don't make stores like those anymore :-(

[elizabethharris]

As a longtime Angeleno, I was heartbroken by the Bullocks-Wiltshire closing...but it's rebirth as this sensitively restored interior to serve as law library for the lawyers of tomorrow has truly been a comfort to me and no doubt many others. Thanks for this film!

[chestersakamoto]

Thank you, KCET, for posting this gem of an episode! I've never seen this until now. It's been a dream of mine to visit Bullocks Wilshire but, more importantly, to see what it looked like in its heyday as an actual store. Talk about lavish and sumptuous architecture. It is, without a doubt, THE best art deco monument in Los Angeles. I hope they still do tours when the pandemic is over, because I HAVE to see it with my own eyes!

[caroltanzi]

A fabulous documentary! Carol from California

[chrisstephens]

this takes me back to a good time in my life

[Bluemarinegirl]

So interesting! Thank you for posting!

[dariusmenda]

I never thought I was going to watch the entire show but it’s missing the “cute & classy ladies” from the Bullock’s Tea Room that are no longer there. Beautiful almost like stepping back in time .. Déjà vu.

[andrewsarroyo]

When our tour guide lit up like a Christmas tree when talking about Mae West and Hollywood, I beamed in gratitude for the information she knew that should have determined our glorious future from the moments to which she referred. She just *knows* the value of the cravings of the people who desire the Bullocks-Wilshire for every individual who shares the want of a past that should have survived beyond its heyday.