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| Old New Orleans Pictures from the Past |
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| I'll meet you under the clock. . . . The department store, D. H. Holmes, was more than just a place to shop -- to New Orleanians, it was an institution. For generations, if a shopper was going to meet a friend on Canal Street, he/she simply said, "I'll see you under the clock," and everyone understood. And lunching at Holmes' restaurant had been a tradition for downtown workers and shoppers for over a hundred years, when the store closed in 1989. The only time I recall New Orleanians more upset at the closing of a retail store, was the day K & B Drugstores were sold. The new owners of the chain hosted a special sale of K & B's line of products at one of the old stores. They expected only a few hundred customers, but were overrun with thousands of people, all in search of a souvenir in the old 'K & B purple' color. By the end of the day, the police had to be called in for traffic control! I guess you could say that New Orleanians are a bit more nostalgic about such things than most folks. The new owners thought they were selling outdated merchandise.... ...but they were really selling memories. |
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| "Decorating the tombs on All Saints' Day is New Orleans' Memorial Day. For several weeks prior, the cemeteries hum with activity. Weeds were cut down, tombs patched and freshly whitewashed. Vases of marble, cement, glass and even bottles were brought. On the day itself, thousands and thousands of chrysanthemums are brought to the cemeteries and reverently placed at the tombs. From morning to late afternoon the cemeteries are thronged and, by nightfall, become huge bowers of flowers." Article in Harper's Weekly, 1895. Photo circa 1897. The tradition of taking flowers to the cemetery on All Saints' Day continues in New Orleans. Almost any cemetery in the city and surrounding area is a breathtaking sight on the morning of November 2, with colorful bouquets throughout, as far as the eye can see. |
| Interior of St. Charles Hotel -- Left: 2nd hotel; Right: my Dad's St. Charles. In 1835, construction began on the St. Charles Hotel. It was designed by James Gallier and, at the time of its opening, was considered one of the most luxurious hotels in the world. The second St. Charles Hotel, erected after the first burned down, lasted from 1851 to 1894, when it suffered the same fate. The third and last, was built in 1896 and, sadly, was demolished after the hotel closed its doors in 1974. My father's first job, at the tender age of 14, was as a "bellboy" at the St. Charles Hotel. |
| NEW ORLEANS by Jim Metcalf I turn away for just a little while, then look back and you've grown some more. The stone and steel of your towers rising above your river Hold back the sunlight from the streets below. Streets that wind and stretch and reach outward to unintended places. Through the swampland.....into the forest and beyond. And the sounds of the city are heard where only yesterday silence was. How far away is the dream you follow? If you find it, will you forget what you really are? A beautiful old enchantress..... a siren at the bend of the river..... New Orleans. |
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| The first electric streetcars were brought to New Orleans at the time of the Cotton Centennial Exposition in 1885. This photo is ca 1890. |
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| D. H. Holmes Restaurant, about 1920 |
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| A milkman making his rounds in the French Quarter. |
| This is the oldest Masonic Lodge in the Mississippi Valley. Chartered in 1810, it has occupied this spot, near current day Louis Armstrong Park, since 1819. Its name is 'Loge La Perseverance' (Perseverance Hall). |
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| I started my very first day of school in this building...long ago and far away (well, pretty far away and definitely long ago). |
| John McDonough #7 school, built in 1877 |
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| All Saints' Day |
| D. H. Holmes, 1842 |
| BACK TO OLD NEW ORLEANS |
| St. Thomas housing project, ca. 1950 |
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| Lining up for ration books during WWII |
| When The Roosevelt was still The Roosevelt...Canal Street, late '50's or early 60's? |
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