10 episodes

New Orleans History, Nostalgia, and Fun!

NOLA History Guy NOLA History Guy

    • History

New Orleans History, Nostalgia, and Fun!

    Podcast 41 – Krewe of Proteus

    Podcast 41 – Krewe of Proteus

    We’re talking about the Krewe of Proteus, a Lundi Gras tradition.

    Podcast 41 – Krewe of Proteus.

    Happy Lundi Gras! The Krewe of Proteus first rolled the streets of New Orleans in 1882. While they’re not the oldest Carnival organization, they’re the oldest that still parades. Here’s the video of the history of Proteus:



    Heere’s the PDF of the presentation.

    The Krewe that came back



    Of the three krewes that withdrew from parading in 1992 (Comus, Momus, and Proteus), the Krewe of Proteus returned to the streets in 2000. As we discuss in the pod, Proteus had stronger reasons to return to public view. While the other two krewes hold seniority, Proteus held visibility. Momus paraded on the Thursday before Mardi Gras. That spot now belongs to the Knights of Babylon. Babylon traditionally paraded on Wednesday, and moved up in the pecking order. Or did they? After all, Thursday night now belongs to the Krewe of Muses, one of the super-krewes.

    Comus paraded on Mardi Gras night. When they began in 1857, the Mystick Krewe were the only parade in town. Over a century, however, other krewes out-shone the oldest organization. By the 1980s, the Comus parade was essentially glorified transportation to their ball. Worn out from a day of marching clubs, Zulu, Rex, and the truck floats, the majority of Uptown carnival-goers gave up before dusk.



    The Comus ball, held for decades on one side of the Municipal Auditorium on Mardi Gras, is still the Big Deal in “society” circles. Even Rex defers to Comus by leaving his own ball and closing out the season with Comus. So, the members of the Mystick Krewe didn’t lose much sleep over not returning to parading. That’s ironic, of course, since they eventually did prevail in court over the city.

    Proteus, on the other hand, had the most prominent position of the three. Even before “Lundi Gras” was an event in itself, they embraced the anticipation and excitement of the evening, leading into the big day.

    • 59 min
    Podcast 40 – New Orleans King Cakes

    Podcast 40 – New Orleans King Cakes

    New Orleans King Cakes date back centuries, with exciting times ahead.

    New Orleans King Cakes

    From Twelfth Night to the start of parades, the public face of Carnival is the King Cake. Let’s run down some of the background on this wonderful tradition. Note that this is background, history. Your preferred modern king cake is up to you!

    Here’s the YouTube version of the pod. As we’ve mentioned previously, I record the pod using Zoom. It’s wonderful, because Zoom generates audio and video. I like to think the audio version of the pod is more fun, but what the heck.



    Show notes

    Here’s the PDF of the images, so you can follow along with the audio.



    The Clay Monument. On 31-December-1869, the Twelfth Night Revelers invited New Orleans to see them pass by the Clay Monument on January 6, 1870. As mentioned in the pod, we’re going to have to do a full episode on the monument’s history. The reason TNR used this landmark as a gathering point was its size. The original monument dominated the three-way corner of Canal, Royal, and St. Charles Streets. Can you imagine this beast of a monument in the middle of modern Canal Street? Perfect place to tell the city, “come see us.” This is a Theodore Lilienthal photo.



    Restaurant Antoine: New Orleans’ oldest restaurant, on St. Louis Street, between Royal and Bourbon. Several of the dining rooms at the restaurant are named after Carnival organizations. This is the Twelfth Night Revelers room.

    Bakeries

    Tastee-McKenzie

    Adrian’s Bakery in Gentilly

    Blue Dot Donuts

    Bywater Bakery

    King Cake Hub

    King Cake Hub, located at Zony Mash Brewery, 1464 S. Broad, is a great option for one-stop king cake shopping. You’re looking to have a king cake tasting at the house, or at work? No better way to get a sampling of different styles than here.

    CORRECTION: I said North Broad for the location of King Cake Hub at Zony Mash when it should be SOUTH Broad!

     

     

     

     

    Podcast 39 – A Carnival Primer

    Podcast 39 – A Carnival Primer

    A Carnival Primer for everyone.

    Podcast 39 – A Carnival Primer

    When I’m asked to speak to a group that’s come to town for a convention, meeting, etc., they often ask for a talk on a Carnival-related subject. I’ve expanded this into a Carnival Primer that traces the celebration back to its medieval European roots, up to modern times. Now it’s a podcast and “cornerstone” content.

    YouTube

    As y’all know, I record the podcasts using Zoom. I’m also going back through talks I’ve given re-recording them via Zoom. That way, y’all can clearly see the images used for that presentation. In the case of this Carnival Primer, the talk is a good bit longer than something I’d do for a live group. They can’t pause and run to get another glass of wine.



    Zoom saves both video and audio files upon completion. So, I upload the video to YouTube. Here you go. The audio-only is classic podcast in our traditional format.

    The Pod

    We present a history of Mardi Gras:



    * Origins – Carnival’s Medieval Roots and how it came to New Orleans

    * Comus – the city’s first “modern” parade.

    * Old-Line Parades – Comus, Rex, Momus, Proteus

    * Black Mardi Gras – Indians, Zulu, Debutante Balls

    * Super Krewes – Bacchus, Endymion, Orpheus, Rex, Zulu

    * Yardi Gras – Carnival during the Covid-19 pandemic

    * Going Forward – 2023 and beyond!



    Images

    Some images from the pod. The full presentation is available as a PDF here.

    Fat Tuesday, the last day before Lent was a day of celebration and feasting in Medieval Europe. The lord of the castle would elevate eligible Squires to Knighthood. The time of fasting and preparation for Easter began the next day, on Ash Wednesday.

    Using fire to light the way of the parade!

    Carnival formally comes to a close when the courts of Rex and Comus meet at the Comus bal masque on Mardi Gras Night.

    The King’s Cake dates back centuries. Here’s a modern incarnation of the confection, from Adrian’s Bakery, located on Paris and Mirabeau Avenues in Gentilly.

    Black Mardi Gras includes “Masking Indian,” a tradition dating back over a century. There are a number of origin stories for the tradition.

     

     

    3000 Gentilly in the 1950s

    3000 Gentilly in the 1950s

    The block of 3000 Gentilly Blvd holds a fascinating history.



    3000 Gentilly

    Photo of the building at 3028-3030 Gentilly Blvd., taken by Franck Studios on February 13, 1951. The specific photographer is unidentified, since this is a commercial photo rather than part of a legal record. The more recent occupant of the building was Gentilly Supply Center, a hardware and appliances store. The store declared bankruptcy the previous summer. A Latter and Blum “For Rent” sign stands in the front window. To the left is Al Shorey’s Bar, and to the right, what appears to be an Oriental Laundry storefront. Mr. Winston Ho has done extensive research on Chinese laundries, as part of his all-things-NOLA-Chinese work.

    Petland

    This building was an Oriental Laundry storefront. By the late 1940s, a pet shop, Petland, took over the location. They didn’t change the “oriental” look of the storefront. Eventually, Petland closed and the building was demolished.

    And here’s the pod

    YouTube format.



    PDF of the Powerpoint

    Gentilly Supply Center



    The store was originally the “Gentilly Appliance Company.” The owners renamed it in 1948. The company participated in a lot of “co-op” advertising in the Times-Picayune. These are ads paid mostly by a product manufacturer, and stores selling the product added their address, possibly logo, at the bottom. If you lived in Gentilly and wanted to buy a Hotpoint dishwasher, Gentilly Supply Center was your go-to.

     

     

    • 58 min
    Podcast 37 – Street Railways of Algiers and Gretna #podcast

    Podcast 37 – Street Railways of Algiers and Gretna #podcast

    Street railways connected Algiers with Gretna and even Marrero.



    Westbank Streetcars

    I had the privilege of speaking to the Algiers Historical Society last month, on the subject of street railways on the Westbank. I’d spoken to the group on East Bank subjects in the past, so it was fun to dive into an Algiers topic.

    Street Railways pod format

    So, I didn’t record the original talk, I sat down this week with the Powerpoint presentation and did it as a Zoom. Zoom generates both video and audio recordings. I uploaded the video recording to YouTube. Video podcasts have been a thing for a while, so we’ll join that bandwagon.

    I’ve also included a PDF of the slides, for those of you who listen to the audio format, along with images from the presentation.

    Early Years

     

     

    Electrification

    Conversion to buses

     

     

    • 1 hr 15 min
    Podcast 36 – May 1862 – 01-May-2021

    Podcast 36 – May 1862 – 01-May-2021

    NOLA History Guy Podcast 01-May-2021 discusses Butler’s goals in New Orleans.

    NOLA History Guy Podcast 01-May-2021

    We’re back! Since we’re starting on May 1st, let’s talk about the occupation of New Orleans in 1862.

    Consider these goals Butler had when he came to New Orleans

    Pacify the city

    Butler used 10,000 of his 15,000 troops to establish a perimeter around the city. He implemented his infamous General Order 28, and limited free speech in 1862.

    Expansion of his troops

    Butler created the Corps d’Afrique, consisting of the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Louisiana Native Guards regiments. These troops were mostly Creoles of Color. They belonged to militia units during the secession year.

    Re-Open the Port of New Orleans

    Butler provided food to the working-class and working poor of New Orleans, who were mostly Irish and German immigrants. They re-opened the port and jump-started the economy. Trade with Europe helped keep Britain and France from getting involved in the war.

    Dealing with the enslaved.

    Butler’s “contraband of war” policy, and enslavement in New Orleans.

     

     

    • 49 min

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