Early Commercial Organization
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| (Early 1920s) - Orders counter - Main Office |
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| (Early 1920s)* - Office of Commercial Division on Second Floor of the Broadway Buildings. |
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| (Date unknown)* - Early Billing Section. |
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| (ca. 1930)* - Early Telephone Exchange with telephone operators Alma McKnight (left) and Doris Scott (right). |
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| (July, 1930)* - Addressograph machines and operators - pictured are Emogene Downs, Delores Guizar, Mrs. Beulah Tobey, Mrs. Ruth Lee, Welhelmina Postma and Mrs. Alice M. Watson. |
Click HERE to read more about the Addressograph Section of the early 1900s. |
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| (1930)* - Department of Water and Power addressograph machines for customer billing and envelope preparation (invented by the Department of Water and Power). |
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| (1933)* - Telephone order desk in Consumer's Service Section where 13,000 calls are handled each month for on and off meter readings alone - left to right: Kathryn Miller, Catherine McCarthy, Hilma Broden, Elizabeth Collins, Celia Gordon, Olive Ogden (standing near window) and Leonora Parshall. |
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| (1933)* - Interior shot of Billing Section - left to right: Minnie Spivak, Harland Fogarty, Alma Beeson, Mabel White, Courtenay K. Pearce, Eloise du Couedic and Bessie Daugherty, all of Bookkeeping Section. |
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| (1953)* - The Commercial Division's new order section located on the 5th floor of the Washington Building. The 13-story Washington Building was purchased by DWP in 1945 for $450,000 and is located at the corner of Third and Spring Streets. |
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| (Early 1950s)* - Van Nuys Commercial Office |
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| (1969)* - New order section of the Commercial Division at the General Office Building |
Other Commercial Activities
The DWP was, and is, specifically allowed by the City Charter to spend funds to promote its business and the efficiency and conservation of its products and services. A core of trained home economists were available to teach and demonstrate how to use electrical appliances for the best results. With electricity being cheap to produce at the time and the most modern form for clean, efficient heating and cooking, the DWP promoted all-electric Gold Medallion homes.
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| (ca. 1937)* - Electric range display at the Hollywood Branch Office at 1613 N. Cahuenga Boulevard. |
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A window display with a simple message spelled out in big letters on the wall "Future Home Makers Prefer Modern Electrical Appliances"(date unknown).* |
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DWP advertising for Chromalox electric heaters and heating elements (date unknown).* |
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A Gold Medallion Notepad |
Home economists of the DWP. Click here for their recipes. |
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References
* DWP - LA Public Library Image Archive
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