Opening: Tuesday February 4, 1908 was the opening of Wonderland, a combination moving picture theatre, music hall, waxworks and exhibit venue modeled on New York's Eden Musee. There's no listing under the Wonderland name in either the 1907 or 1908 directory.
Morgan & Walls were the architects of the building. Construction had begun early in 1906 and the building opened in June. The initial tenant was the Le Bon Marché department store with the building called the Le Sage Building after the name of the brothers who operated the store. They moved out, leaving the building available for its brief theatrical venture. By 1910 it was called the Bumiller Building.
An article about the new venture appeared in the January 4, 1908 issue of the L.A. Times:
"'It is our purpose to conduct an enterprise which will not only serve for purposes of recreation, but will have some educational value as well. We will change our bill constantly, and our attractions will be strictly high class. On the main floor we will have, for instance, a series of illusions, representing the best in constructive skill of that sort. On the next floor we will have exhibits of still another kind -- and on still another floor a moving-picture exhibition which we believe will be the most complete and perfect ever brought to this Coast. We are constructing a small theater, with a steel balcony and the approved exits, on the ground floor. This will be used for musical attractions, in the main. We expect to have the basement equipped with a series of models and wax figures, in a few months.'"
Closing as Wonderland: It didn't last long. By March it had closed, Thompson was in bankruptcy, and the space at 430-432-434 S. Broadway was being used as an auction venue for the operation's paraphernalia as well as various household goods. A Times ad on March 26 announced a sale for the benefit of creditors of Floyd C. Thompson. Ads appearing on June 8, 10 and 12 in the Times for auctions referred to the venue as the "Old Wonderland Theatre."
In the June 14 and 15 editions of the Times the ads for auctions to be held at auction rooms on Spring and Main by auctioneer W.O. Trask mentioned that the goods (mostly office stuff, paintings and household items) were being sold on the order of the receiver of the Wonderland.
Reopening as the Eden Musee:
Thanks to Ken McIntyre for locating this ad for the April 11, 1908 reopening. He shared it as a post for the Photos of Los Angeles private Facebook group.
The premises were listed in the 1908 city directory under "Theatres" as the Eden Musee at 430 S. Broadway. In the alphabetical listings it's shown with the address 430-434 with E.W. Chase as owner, J.E. Kavanagh as manager and C.R. Gates as press agent.
Closing: Perhaps it didn't even make it into 1909. The Broadway address isn't listed as either Wonderland or Eden Musee in the 1909 city directory.
Status: The Bumiller building, now nicely restored, is still in the middle of the 500 block on the east side of the street. It's now owned by the ICO Group of Companies. Retail is on the ground floor and 58 apartments are above.
The 500 block of Broadway. It's a detail from Plate 002 of the 1921 Baist Real Estate Survey from Historic Map Works. The Bumiller Building and the Broadway Central Building (now called the Judson) are seen in gray on the east side of the street. Off to the left on the NE corner of 5th and Broadway note the American Theatre at 452 indicated as "Theatre" in the Alhambra Building.
1907 - We're looking north on Broadway between 4th and 5th in an October photo. The Bumiller, in 1908 the brief home of the Wonderland/Eden Musee, is just this side of the taller Broadway Central Building. The Optic Theatre at 446 1/2 S. Broadway, is seen in the squat building in the bottom right, below the sign advertising "On the Quiet" at the Belasco on Hill St., a theatre later known as the Follies. It's a California Historical Society photo in the USC Digital Library collection.
1928 - Looking south toward 5th with the Broadway Theatre in the Broadway Central Building and the Bumiller beyond. The June photo from the California Historical Society appears on the USC Digital Library website.
1954 - A look south along the 500 block. Thanks to Sean Ault for sharing the photo from his collection.
2010 - The Bumiller Building pre-restoration. Photo: Bill Counter
2018 - A Sprint store is one of the tenants on the ground floor of the restored building. To the left with the yellow canopy it's the Judson, the building that housed the Broadway Theatre for many decades. At the far left of the image the Perla condo project is under construction on the SE corner of 4th & Broadway. Photo: Bill Counter
More information: The famous Eden Musee this venue was patterned on had opened in New York in 1884. See the Wikipedia article. Wikipedia also has an article on the Bumiller Building.
Before this venue on Broadway came along, the Eden Musee name was being used for part of the Waldeck's Casino Theatre complex on Spring St. That venue went through many names, ending up as the Capitol Theatre.
The Wonderland name soon surfaced for a movie theatre at 315 S. Main St., an operation evidently unrelated to this venture on Broadway. There had been a theatre there since 1908 and it's in the directories beginning in 1909 as the Wonderland Theatre. Later it was known as the Jade Theatre.
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