THE HELMS BAKERY TRUCK

Steve Daniel February 09, 2023 All Feature Vehicles

A ground-up restoration pays tribute to a So Cal neighborhood icon

History begins

In 1926, Paul Helms of New York took an early retirement for health reasons and moved his family to Southern California and its mild climate. Helms started construction on a building between Washington and Venice Boulevards in 1930 and, on March 2, 1931, the Helms Bakery opened with 32 employees and 11 delivery coaches (trucks).

By the next year, the Helms Bakery had become the “official baker” of the 1932 Summer Olympics when Paul Helms won a contract to supply bread for the 1932 games in Los Angeles. His slogan was “Olympic Games Bakers – Choice of Olympic Champions.” Four years later in time for the 1936 Summer Olympics Germany asked Helms for his bread recipes to feed to the German Olympic team. His relationship with Olympians continued in later years, the U.S. teams at London and Helsinki requested his bread be served. Early Helms vehicles sported the Olympic symbol, and it also appeared on, and was mentioned in, the Helms logo on the bread wrappers, the company logo and sign..

I purchased the 1955 first-series panel truck to reimagine it as a working Helms Bakery truck. I was very lucky to have found five of the original drawers from a 1966 Helms truck. That’s what I needed, to build the frame around it, and having a master carpenter to help build my vison of a working Helms truck.

It took two years building from the ground-up: bead blasting the under carriage and rebuilding the stock drive train, and repairing the rust holes with new metal. Overall, the panel truck was in pretty good condition.

I had no blueprints to follow, it was all based on pictures off the internet. Looking at different pictures to build the cabinet box that would hold the ash wood drawers. Building the rear awning from pictures and having a graphics company reproduce the lettering and seals, and also the ad boards that were mounted on the front doors.

1955 first-series Chevy panel truck 261ci inline six-cylinder engine Three speed manual transmission
Note: I didn’t paint the Helms truck the original colors of yellow and black. I was just going to build the panel truck as my version, since it wasn’t an original Helms truck.

Working Helms truck whistle mounted below the dashboard, just like the original

I have also installed an inverter with three deep cycle batteries to run the 110 volt refrigerator / freezer and coffee brewer, which is all stored on the inside top area. So in the future at a special event I can offer a selection of pastries and a fresh cup of coffee, or for the kids, milk and juices. I’m hoping to work with a local bakery to promote their baked goods sold out of the Helms truck.

I have a great fondness for vintage commercial trucks, I even built a 1952 Chevy 1/2 ton Good Humor Ice Cream truck and sold ice cream out
of it for the three years I owned it.

As owner and restorer, I did most of the work myself: paint, bodywork, wiring, brakes, installed the engine, transmission, rear axle, glass, bead blasting the under carriage putting all the parts back on in my garage.