Quote:
Originally Posted by GaylordWilshire
I. Magnin, by way of illustration:
 LAPL http://jpg2.lapl.org/pics49/00059118.jpg
Per LAPL: "...the interior of the first floor of I. Magnin & Co. department store at the corner of Wilshire Blvd
and New Hampshire Ave.... 'walls are of Rose de Brignolles marble'.... 'Here are exclusive Magnin accessories,
with individual salons for gifts, negligees, lingerie and corsets, shoes, luggage and leather goods.'... The
store received an award in 1939 from the Lighting Fixtures Industries of Southern California for best lighting
installation. Designed by Myron Hunt."
 LAPL http://jpg2.lapl.org/pics49/00059142.jpg
 LAPL http://jpg3.lapl.org/pics23/00061256.jpg
Per LAPL: "A two-story Mission Revival residence at 685 South Vermont Avenue, Los Angeles, in the early
1900s. It later became the I. Magnin store parking lot." |
Thanks for posting those pictures, GW. (I need to learn how to post pictures on this site.) The exterior of the building is pretty much the same and the bas-reliefs at various points are alone worth a look-see. The chandelier (or a replica) is still there. I believe it is a Orrefors crystal custom-design for Magnin's. The rose de brignolle marble walls are still visible, too, as are the elevator doors, but the space has been chopped up for small selling spaces. I have read that the upper floors are completely unrecognizable. There are two excellent books about the I. Magnin chain, each full of wonderful photos of the L. A. store. They are,
I. Magnin & Co.: A California Legacy, Devin Frick and
A Store to Remember, James T. Mullane. Until Federated began to ruin the brand in the '80s, I. Magnin, along with Bergdorf Goodman and pre-expansion Neiman-Marcus genuinely set themselves apart as retailers. Not at all like today when you can't tell Sears from Saks.
P.S. I. Magnin and Bullocks Wilshire were among the first retailers anywhere to recognize the importance of the automobile. Their "main" entrances both consisted of
porte-cocheres on the parking lot, not the sidewalk, side of the stores.