by Paul R. Spitzzeri
The evolution of the celebration of Christmas during our interpretive period of 1830 to 1930, as with so much of life generally, was striking as it went from being a minor holiday, much less important than New Year’s Day and Independence Day, to the most important of the year—certainly from an economic standpoint. That’s where the selling of the holiday comes in, as the commercialization of Christmas totally transformed, especially by the time the Roaring Twenties came along.
So much was involved in this process, including the development of the United States into an economic juggernaut, increased wages for most Americans; more leisure time; the burgeoning abundance of goods; the growing sophistication of retail shopping including in increasingly elaborate brick-and-mortar stores as well as the growing use of the catalog; and a shifting attitude toward gift-giving as emblematic of the holiday spirit, among others.
In Los Angeles, which had a population increase of about 10 times in just three decades, with official census figures showing just over 102,000 residents in 1900 to 1,238,000 thirty years later. Among all of the results of that dynamic change, the incredible growth of the retail shopping sector, including department stores, was obviously a major part of the development of the Angel City and its environs.
Posts here have discussed such examples as Hamburger’s (which became May Company during the Twenties), The Broadway and Bullock’s, as prime examples of how the department store grew in size, complexity and sophistication in the early 20th century. Bullock’s was formed in 1907 when Arthur Letts, the owner of The Broadway, provided a favored employee, John G. Bullock, with the means to open his own store. In short order, the new enterprise proved to be a great success under the able management of its namesake administrator.
So much of successful retail operations is based on a keen understanding of the psychology of the shopper, providing, for instance, a comfortable and welcoming experience, as well as offering those sales and discounts. Much of the attention was lavished on women, who did the majority of shopping, though, during the holiday season, efforts increased to reaching out to children. This was obviously through directing them to gifts they would want, but it could also be something general, such as the highlighted object from the Homestead’s holdings for this post.
The artifact is a large-format printed letter from “Bullock’s Santa Claus” and sent to Gordon Baker, a resident of the Eagle Rock neighborhood of Los Angeles, with a postmark date of 21 December 1922. The missive contains an image of Santa standing next to a Christmas tree and filling stockings hung on the mantel of a fireplace with a cozy fire burning in it. On the mantel are a clock, with the time, naturally, reading Midnight, while wisps of smoke from a candelabra with three candles rises toward a vignette of St. Nick lashing his reindeer, though there are only a half-dozen of them (the other three were out sick?)
Writing to his “dear little friend,” Santa expresses his good fortune “to have such delightful boys and girls on his Christmas list!” He added that young Gordon “would laugh” if he was to know “some of the curious requests” that were received for the holiday, but “Old Santa” promised to do what he could for all who sent him their desired gifts. In return, he requests his correspondents to “go to bed early on Christmas Eve—go right to sleep and don’t get up until morning—When you do get up—won’t you be surprised?”
Adding that he wishes he could be there when that happened, St. Nick closed, but added a postscript that, if Gordon carefully colored the sketch and personally delivered it to him before the 23rd, “I will give you one of the tiny packages which I have for Bullock’s special friends.” This was obviously not done, given the time involved, but Gordon obviously saved the letter and envelope and, ninety years later, it ended up in the Museum’s collection.
As for reaching the adults, including Gordon’s mother, Bullock’s was as busy advertising in the local press as its competitors and sister (mother) store, The Broadway. In the last few days before Christmas came (as with this year, the holiday fell on a Monday in 1922), it reached readers of newspapers in various ways. In the edition of the Los Angeles Record of the 20th, there was an emphasis on “Bullock’s Basement Store,” with “items specially priced for last-minute buying,” including 300 dresses for women at under $14 as well as stockings and purses at 65 cents and $1.65 a pair for the former and $1.95 and $2.95 for the latter, while hand-made women’s blouses could be had for $1.95. Other items advertised included boys’ shirts and ties, bathrobes for men and women, girls’ flannel “middie” blouses, and slippers for all ages.
An ad in the same day’s Los Angeles Times exhorted readers that “if only there were words potent enough and striking enough to indelibly impress upon every one the almost imperativeness of Morning Shopping!” Not only that, but it was important to shop earlier in the week, as well, because Bullock’s quoted “a leading United States store” as stating that, of nearly 103,000 shoppers served in one day, more than five times came between Noon and 4 p.m. than in the three hours preceding midday.
The store highlighted “Morning Shopping for Better Service” and added that “during this before-Christmas rush, it will facilitate the delivery of large packages if you will carry your small purchases.” Bullock’s assured readers that, when it came to toys, there was “a plentiful supply even for last-minute purchasers” as a hundred cases from foreign sources and a carload of “wheel goods” arrived for last-minute shopping. Undecided shoppers could go to the Gift Suggestion Bureau on the third floor and buy at that location without having to go elsewhere in the store, while gift wrapping services were offered at the first-floor Holiday Package Booth, which “is a veritable treasure trove of boxes, cords, stickers and wrapping paper. Also emphasized in the ad were candy, fruitcake, and famous gift boxes from the Los Angeles firm of Hans Jevne Company, filled with California fruit and nuts.
The Times of the 21st quoted Santa as muttering “I Must Hurry; Hurry” as the big day neared, and he further stated,
Just 2 1/2 days left in which to finish Christmas Shopping at Bullock’s. Bullock’s closes at one o’clock on Saturday [its normal hours for that day, following the lead of The Broadway], which means that I must hurry all the more.
Only three mornings in which to take advantage of the Early Morning Shopping which Bullock’s so emphatically urges—and to a purpose, too.
For those who are perplexed over last-minute gifts, Bullock’s Gift Suggestion Bureau on the third floor is a haven of solution . . .
Also mentioned in late season advertising, such as one in the Los Angeles Express, also of the 21st, were “Bullock Merchandise Bonds,” made out for any amount and available for any items in any department; “glove certificates,” specifically for that item; and certificates for the store’s “Slipperland,” where there were some 50 types from which to choose. The next day’s ad in the Times informed shoppers that any items bought on the 23rd before the 1 p.m. closing time were guaranteed to be delivered that day, whether in city limits or through the store’s “interurban delivery” service.
Notably, while the ads in the larger papers like the Express, Record and Times were elaborate ones, often full-page, with artwork with holiday themes or depictions of featured items, one on the 23rd in the California Eagle, the major Black-owned newspaper, was much smaller and unadorned with images. Moreover, the wording is notable, as the message was that “everyone who is ready and willing to live up to the edicts of a high class Department Store is welcome at Bullock’s.” The insinuation was clear, that African-American shoppers could go to the store if they accepted “the edicts” of Bullock’s—nothing remotely like this was to be found in marketing to White patrons in other papers.
There was another form of advertising for the store, found in the 15 December issue of the Roman Catholic journal, The Tidings, and which began with the observation that “if you were to ask some Los Angeles woman as to where she loved to shop and trade she would probably say that she secured more real pleasure and satisfaction from going to Bullock’s—”Going to Bullock’s,” is a habit—a Los Angeles habit . . . “ It added that “there is a sentiment about merchandising” which was that people became regular shoppers “for the reason that there is sentiment in being pleased and in receiving service.” The store was established as a mainstay in the Angel City’s retail realm “through years of effort and the application of modern methods.”
With a tea room, lounges, the bureaus for gift-giving and information and much else, shoppers at Bullock’s recognized that the goal was “making his or her path easier when it comes to purchasing goods for a particular purpose.” The piece reminded readers to “take advantage of the bureaus and the knowledge of the heads of the sections” because the store made it “a principle to make pleasant the work of solving the problems of the home.” Given this, it was an imperative that “service is one of the very important elements of commercial life and that is why the name Bullock’s represents so much to the average Los Angeles home.”
Concluding that “The Tidings is always glad to visit Bullock’s and particularly during the Yuletide” season, the ad/article tied the commercial to the religious:
At this time when the Yuletide is at hand and the hearts of mankind are merry with the thought of giving and making others happy—Bullock’s presents one of the most attractive spots in all of the Southland . . .
The store looks like a Fairyland, with its festoons and its decorations. Christmas tidings appear everywhere. Thousands will be made happy from gifts bought at Bullock’s. Christmas seems manifest everywhere in the store. It is really an inspiring scene, for what is there in all this world that is more humane and more heart-filling than a throng of purchasers seeking articles to make other people happy and contented? It is without doubt, one of the great ennobling acts of our Christian people. It follows the precepts laid down by the founder of the Brotherhood of Man.
Naturally, once these “great ennobling acts” were carried out and Christian precepts followed with the giving of gifts, it was time for the post-holiday sale and the Christmas Day edition o the Record ran a Bullock’s ad for the After-Christmas sale in the discount basement store. The store noted that it had 1,000 women’s apron-dresses at 65 cents each that “should fairly fly away,” along 450 girls’ coats at $5. Not surprisingly, most of the items promoted were for women, including silk blouses, girls’ sweaters, robes, undergarments, stockings and fabrics, though boys’ “Oliver Twist” suits (reflecting child star Jackie Coogan’s blockbuster take, released at the end of October, on the Dickens classic) and children’s shoes were also highlighted.
At the end of the month and, as 1923 dawned, Bullock’s took out advertisements for its Misses section, specifically for “frocks for the youthful” from fashion designer Barbara Lee featured in Harper’s and Vogue magazines. The store was closed on New Year’s Day but wished its patrons a “Happy and Prosperous” year to come—1923, in fact, was the peak of the latest boom in greater Los Angeles.