C. H. Baker was a chain of shoe stores that operated in Greater Los Angeles^[1] and elsewhere on the West Coast from 1904 through about 1991.

The stores were founded by Charles Harris Baker^[2] (b. Dec. 23, 1869, Martin County, Indiana, moved to Los Angeles in 1880 and Pasadena in 1889, died in an auto accident August 22, 1939, Pasadena, California)^[3] In about 1898, Baker started as an employee in Hamilton's shoe store in Los Angeles at a salary of $12 per week. He began his shoe business around 1900,^[4] initially or at some point as a partnership, Hamilton & Baker.

In 1904, the partnership with Hamilton was dissolved, and C. H. Baker took over the business, then located at 239 S. Spring St.,^[5] the central shopping district of Los Angeles at that time.

By 1928, C. H. Baker had 13 stores: 4 in central Los Angeles, one in Hollywood and Pasadena, 4 in San Francisco, and 3 in Portland, Oregon. Their stores were located in most major malls in Southern California until about 1991.

In 1939, Harris died in a car crash, and his son John Harris Baker managed the chain, which at that time had stores in 10 communities.^[3]

In 1923, C. H. Baker opened a store at 6664 Hollywood Boulevard, at that time the second-most-important shopping district in Los Angeles after Broadway and Seventh Streets in Downtown Los Angeles. That store had more demand for the latest fashions; its sales were about $100,000 the first year and $400,000 annually in 1928.^[4]

• 6 views of Baker Shoe Store, 6664 Hollywood Blvd., 1933
• Image of C. H. Baker Hollywood store, 1923
• Sketch of C. H. Baker store, Pasadena, 1927