Baked Goodness: The Story of Van de Kamp’s Holland Dutch Bakers

The Van de Kamp's Bakery headquarters, designed to resemble a 16th -century Dutch farmhouse, located at 2930 Fletcher Drive in Glassell Park. Photo courtesy of Los Angeles Public Library

Today, “Van de Kamp’s” generally makes one think of frozen fish sticks, available for sale in your local grocery store. But for older generations of Angelinos, the name conjures up memories of delicious baked goods, swirling windmills, and waitresses dressed in comely “Dutch-style” blue and white costumes. At the company’s height, 320 Van de Kamp’s Holland Dutch Bakers dotted the West Coast.  This family business was run out of a handsome Dutch Renaissance Revival factory in the heart of the LA “bread bowl” in Glassell Park.

The Van de Kamp’s origin story is representative of Los Angeles itself. Energetic young people from Milwaukee, of Dutch descent, but thoroughly “American,” coming to the Southland to start anew. In 1938, LA Times columnist Lee Shippey told the story of the company’s early days:

In January 1915, with an investment of only $200, the Van de Kamp family opened their first food stand in downtown Los Angeles. According to historian Cecilia Rasmussen, “Frank had reasoned that the name would be memorable and its Dutch heritage would connote cleanliness and freshness. They underlined that idea with their motto: ‘Made Clean, Kept Clean, Sold Clean.’” Lee Shippey continues:

The chip stand continued to be hugely successful. “We didn’t make them, we bought them[from brother Ralph],” Lawrence Frank remembered with a laugh. “But we had them delivered through a chute in the rear. So people thought they were being fried fresh out back somewhere.” Henrietta and Marian were the first “Dutch girls,” and their personable salesmanship made the stand all the more popular. The family opened four more stands within the year, and opened their first coffee shop at 5^th and Spring two years later. They began selling other baked goods, including salted coconut macaroons made by a local female friend. They absorbed a local baker, and began selling white breads. During World War I, war rations led them to invent a whole grain bread that seems decades ahead of its time:

After the war, Van de Kamp’s continued to expand. Lawrence and Theodore took the lead in managing the business. "They were a very good team," said Richard N. Frank, son of Lawrence Frank. "My father was the creative one. My uncle was terrific with numbers and did the administrative work. My dad created the products." In 1921, they built a large bakery near Beverly and Western. Outside, they placed a picturesque blue and white windmill, created especially for the company by Hollywood art director Harry Oliver. The windmill would become the company’s trademark. Lawrence Frank, with his gift for creating fantastical spaces, would also open a side business a year later- the legendary Tam O’Shanter.

Holland Dutch Bakery at 12169 Ventura Boulevard (ca 1939). Photo by Herman J. Schultheis. Courtesy of Los Angeles Public Library

By 1928, the company boasted 53 bakeries and coffee shops all over Los Angeles. “I knew this area was going to spread,” Lawrence Frank explained. “So instead of concentrating downtown, we opened our places in neighborhoods and surrounding communities.” In 1930, the family built a grand headquarters in Glassell Park. Designed by architect J. Edwin Hopkins, the building was surrounded by other bakeries, including Dolly Madison, Frisco Baking Co., and Foix French Baking. According to Rasmussen:

The company continued to flourish and expand. The family also expanded into the frozen food market. Lawrence Frank continued to open other businesses, and in 1938 he founded the legendary Lawry’s Prime Rib on La Cienega.

Theodore Van de Kamp died in 1956, and the family sold the company to General Bakeries that same year. Van de Kamp’s eventually splintered into two different companies- the bakeries and the frozen foods enterprise. Van de Kamp’s Holland Dutch Bakers filed for bankruptcy in 1990, and the iconic Glassell Park headquarters is now a satellite campus for Los Angeles City College. The frozen foods company lives on. But the dozens of fanciful windmills, that promised that a yummy pastry and a warm cup of coffee were just a car ride away, are long, long gone.

Now a Denny's, it is possible that this may be a remaining windmill restaurant of the Van de Kamps locales. Photo by Chuck Coker. Creative Commons License.