Thursday, May 28, 2020

HELMS BAKERY MEMORIES




A few weeks ago I was reading My Father's Daughter - a memoir by Tina Sinatra, daughter of famed singer Frank.

I was never a Sinatra fan, but I'm  a voracious reader and will delve into anything concerning Hollywood and/or celebrities.  Tina's book is quite interesting and honestly written.

I was immediately struck by one of Tina's earliest childhood memories in Southern California: that of the Helms Bakery truck. 
I remember Helms Bakery very well, and the excitement of seeing the truck come through our neighborhood every weekday morning. 

Helms Bakery was very well-known in Southern California from 1931 until 1969 when they finally suspended business.
The unique thing about Helms was that they had no retail stores. All of their bakery items were sold by trucks, which drove to neighborhoods throughout Southern California - sort of like the ice cream man.

 Early Helms trucks
1931 truck

Paul Helms (1889 - 1957) was originally from New York, but moved with his family to California in 1926 due to health reasons. He built a bakery factory in Culver City, which opened in March, 1931, with 32 employees and 11 delivery trucks.

 Helms truck drivers
waiting to embark on morning deliveries

In 1932 Helms Bakery became the official baker for the Summer Olympics, which were held in Los Angeles. Soon afterwards, another Helms factory was built in Montebello and their truck deliveries expanded from the Los Angeles Basin to the San Gabriel Valley. The company motto was "Daily at Your Door".


 Inside the Helms Bakery factory

After Paul Helms death in 1957, his family kept the company and expanded the delivery service from the L.A. area to regions as far as Orange County and San Bernadino.

 Making deliveries



By the end of the 1960s, however, truck deliveries were becoming passe due to fierce competition from ever-expanding retail stores. The Helms Bakery concept was no longer financially viable and the business closed in 1969.

In the early 1970s the Helms L.A. factory was purchased by the Marks family. Today the area is known as the Helms Bakery District, which houses retail stores, restaurants, and a museum.

My fondest memories of Helms Bakery occurred in the 1960s, when my family lived in Pomona. We lived there nearly five years, when I was eight to eleven.

The Helms truck would come to our neighborhood every weekday, making its presence known by the distinct whistle that would go Toot-Toot! All the neighborhood ladies would run outside to buy bakery goods.

 These are the trucks I remember



At that time, Helms had the very best items that you could get anywhere - including bread, donuts, cookies, and even candy. When my Mom wasn't able to run outside, she'd give me money to get the items we needed.

Jelly donuts were always on the agenda. Nobody - and I mean nobody - ever made better jelly donuts than Helms. They were huge, generously filled with real jelly, and always warm from the oven.

I recently came across someone on the Internet who remembered that Helms jelly donuts were six cents each. I don't recall how much they were when I was a child, but when my mother gave me a dollar for a dozen donuts I always got back change.

When I was about ten years old, my father bought a used Helms Bakery truck. I don't know the year of the truck, but it was probably from the 1950s. It was painted blue, and the Helms emblems were gone, but it still had the whistle that went Toot-Toot. 

My father didn't keep the truck for very long. I suppose, for him, it was only a passing novelty.
We moved to Anaheim when I was eleven. That's when Dad sold the Helms truck and bought a brand new Ford Econoline van. 


This looks exactly like the truck my father bought, although the Helms emblem was gone and it was painted baby blue. I have a photo of Dad's truck somewhere, but I'm too lazy to look for it (and my printer/scanner isn't working).


24 comments:

  1. What a great post!!!!! Old memories like this are the best aren't? While we never had a drive thru truck for bakeries up here, when I was a wee one, I remember we had milk and eggs delivered. The only other thing we had, was the Charles Chips truck. When I stayed with my grandmother, the truck came weekly and one could get their tin of chips refilled, and they also sold pretzels and all kinds of penny candy. That and the ice cream truck were huge happening for us kids then. With the ice cream truck, my treat was always a plastic cone of ice cream with a ball gum at the bottom. We still have an ice cream truck in the summer here. And during this pandemic, the diary where I get my milk was offering to deliver so I took advantage. Life was such a treat back then. I bet that Helms truck smelt heavenly?

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    1. Thanks for the wonderful comment. I think I scared everyone away with my previous post....I never heard of the Charles Chips truck, but it sounds like great idea. Also, for some strange reason, I've never lived in a place where I could get milk delivered.

      I definitely remember the ice cream truck when I was a kid - but I liked the Helms Bakery one even better -
      and, you're right - it smelled heavenly. I still crave those donuts!

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  2. I love these memories, Jon. We had Nickles Bakery here. The truck only came to our neighborhood on Tuesdays, if I'm remembering correctly. The driver would park and go door to door, with a bakery rack that he had strapped around his neck. I mostly remember my mom buying the maple frosting rolls and the bag of Donut Fair mini donuts. This would have been the late 60's. But, Nickles still exists in the Midwest and I can buy their bread and donuts at most local grocery stores!

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    1. I never knew there were other bakery companies that sold their items via truck. Helms was so popular when I was a kid. I never figured out how they managed to keep their donuts so oven-fresh warm. Perhaps some kind of heater in the truck??

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  3. Ok now I definitely feel like I had a deprived childhood to not have had a Helms truck deliver baked goods to my NJ home, Jon. I love jelly donuts too and to get a dozen and change back too, those were really a bargain! The only home deliveries my parents ever got was milk left in a metal box on the front porch and donuts would have gone so well with cold milk. How neat that your father had one of the trucks, bad that he sold it for an Econovan.
    No, the last post didn’t scare me. Everyone is entitled to a rant and those who can’t handle that do best to move on. The only thing that would keep my from returning to a blog site is objectionable language repeatedly and for no goodnpurpkse. Rant on all you want.

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    1. My father's old Helms truck would have been a collector's item nowadays. I remember milk being delivered to my grandmother's house (in NJ) and also coal for the furnace. They were the good ol' days...

      Glad to know that my virus rant didn't scare you. Writing has always been an outlet for purging my soul.
      I TRY not to use objectionable language - but occasionally I let it slip in for shock value.

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  4. How cool! Lots of things were sold from trucks that cruised thorough our neighborhood when I was a child, but never any bakery goods. (I could use one of those kinda deliveries about now... one of those jelly donuts would definitely do the trick...) One of the trucks that came down our front street sold pizza by the slice. Wasn't too bad, either. In retrospect, the most unusual trucks that came down our alley were the ones pulling a trailer holding a kiddie ride. Like a big multi-seated caged swing. A small Ferris wheel. A tiny merry-go-round. If I remember right, it cost a quarter to ride them.

    But I would've rather had a donut... :)

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    1. The only trucks that came through our neighborhood were the bakery and ice cream. A pizza truck would have been nice. Those traveling kiddie rides would probably be banned nowadays for being dangerous. I'm glad I was a child when danger was on our agenda...

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    2. Yep. We're lucky we made it this far. :)

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  5. Sad! I've never heard of that iconic bakery … but man, what a WONDERFUL tradition. I get the profit/loss mentality, but wish some things like Helms weren't sacrificed for the sake of convenience. ("They paved paradise and put up a parking lot.")

    I was never a big fan of Sinatra's music … but sure intrigued by innuendos and rumors of his mob ties. Perhaps I should download Tina's memoir.

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    1. It seems like all the iconic things are vanishing. I'm glad that I'm old enough to remember a way of life that is now nostalgic.

      Tina Sinatra's book is good, but rather sugar-coated. If you want to get the REAL dirt on Sinatra, read "My Way" by Kitty Kelley. Sinatra wanted to kill her for writing it....

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  6. When you do these post they are pure magic dear. I may on the younger side but I have an old soul. And look, many can agree to disagree. Everyone may not be the same and think the same but if we were all the same it would be a boring world. Again, if people want to comment they can or they don't have to either. But bloggers can and should write what they want. It's there blog sugarplums. But I did thoroughly enjoy this one. Your time capsules I call them, are what drew me to you in the first place.

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    1. I meant that to reply to our above thread sugar.

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    2. I knew that all the while.....

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  7. I have a couple of Helms Bakery cards that my mother would put in the window when she wanted the driver to stop by our house. For some reason I remember our bakery truck being wood sided like the old station wagons. Maybe I'm confusing that with the pull out wooden drawers.

    We also got milk from AltaDena Dairy. It's probably my imagination but it seems like milk tasted better from glass bottles.

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    1. Hey, it's good to hear from you again. I vaguely remember window cards but can't remember if my parents ever used them. I don't recall any Helms wood panel trucks, but their trucks changed quite frequently and paneled ones are not out of the question.

      You're right - milk tasted much better out of glass bottles. When I was in first grade, the school gave us milk and orange juice in glass bottles and both were seemingly the best I ever had.

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  8. I've never heard of a bakery truck. What nice memories. :)

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    1. Helms had an unusual concept with no stores and only trucks, but it was very popular for nearly 40 (actually 38) years. I'm glad I was able to experience it - - and eat their delicious donuts!

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  9. I've never heard about Helm's but I love this story. It takes my thoughts back to better times, a better world. Thanks Jon for sharing your stories, I thoroughly enjoy them.

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    1. Louise, you're definitely right - - it was a better time and a much better world. I yearn for those times when things seemed more simple and the world was far less crazy.
      I'm delighted that you enjoy my stories.

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  10. Hi Jon, I popped in for a read which I guaranteed would be available on your blog. I feel as though I am trespassing but nobody stopped me on the way in!

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    1. Valerie - you're never trespassing and you're ALWAYS welcome here. It's such a shame that you are having so much trouble with Google. I hope that somehow you'll be able to access your blog again.

      If all else fails, perhaps you could try opening a new Google account. It's better than nothing. Big Hugs to you and Charlie!

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  11. Awesome story. I barely remember the door to door salesman who would come through our neighborhood. I must have been about 3-4 years old! I never saw him ever again after I started school. So strange how business models change over the years. And how Nostalgia frames our memories as pleasant and good. I also remember the Ice cream truck... It has been YEARS since I have seen one in any neighborhood. I hear they still exist, but prices and family structures are much different than before when I was growing up.

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  12. My entire childhood seems to be steeped in nostalgia - which makes me feel more ancient than I really am. I remember ice cream trucks and encyclopedia salesmen and even a door-to-door portrait photographer. It's a different world nowadays - more complicated....and (unfortunately) much more crazy.

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