New Orleans State of Mind (1940)

According to various reports, New Orleans architecture was a big hit in New York during the spring of 1940.

Bourbon Street's Old Absinthe House Bar (shown above) was reproduced at the World's Fair in Flushing Meadows. Lucien J. Cazebonne claimed that the reproduction was an exact copy of the original bar. The facsimile was erected in the "Gay Old New Orleans" section of Michael Todd's show featuring Gypsy  Rose Lee.(1)

In Manhattan, architect Max Bohm and painter Tony Sarg remodeled a Greenwich Village tenement row to resemble the Vieux Carre:

"Wide bands of ornamental iron connecting the tiers of balconies at each end and at regular intervals have built up in the mind the idea that they are not just emergencies to be used in the event of fire but are a substantial part of each apartment. The balconies are wide as well as long. The suspended flower baskets also help to fix in the mind the New Orleans atmosphere.

"Just inside the entrance door which is not in the center of the facade but slightly off to one side, are murals, scenes of New Orleans. The old Absinthe House is detected in one corner of the group. Sketches of doors leading into interior courts and arcaded sidewalks near Jackson Square cover one wall panel. On the opposite side of the river is a view of a Mississippi river packet discharging cotton on the levees. This serves to introduce the lobby, which runs parallel to the front of the building. Iron grille, stone flooring, hanging balconies, arches and one large palm complete the picture."(2)

The New York Herald-Tribune lauded Jane Street apartment owner Arthur Rule's taste.

(1)"Orleanian Goes to New York to Show Famed Bar." The Times-Picayune 10 May 1940.

(2)"New Orleans Features Used to Make New York Rehabilitation Distinctive." The Times-Picayune 21 April 1940.

Image above: Walter Cook Keenan. Old Absinthe House. 238 Bourbon Street, New Orleans, LA. 18 November 1944. This and other Bourbon Street photographs are online via Tulane University Digital Library's Bourbon Street, 1944-1952.

Mid-Century Bourbon Street

Tulane Digital Library and the Southeastern Architectural Archive are happy to announce a new Digital Collection of mid-century New Orleans photographs.

Walter Cook Keenan (1881-1970), the first architect of the Vieux Carré Commission (VCC), took the photographs in order to document violations of the Vieux Carré Ordinance (VCO). Beginning in 1944, the VCC increasingly sought to regulate the appearance of building facades, especially by limiting signage and prohibiting the use of neon. As VCC architect, Keenan conducted daily property inspections to document VCO violations.

Entertainment businesses along Bourbon Street were notably affected by the ordinance and Keenan recorded nearly every property along the artery more than once. Bourbon Street's night clubs, jazz musicians, burlesque shows, restaurants and boarding houses became his photographic subjects. The collection includes images of Sloppy Joe's, Lenny Gale's Sugar Bowl, the Old Barn Bar, Zonia's Cocktail Lounge, Ciro's, the Magic Lock, the Famous Door, 418 Bar, Dixie's Bar of Music, and Stormy's Casino Royale. Signs for burlesque dancers Evangeline, Bubbles, Kalantan, Pam Holloway, and Stormy's Mother also feature prominently.

Image above: Walter Cook Keenan. 327 Bourbon Street. 16 September 1949. Walter Cook Keenan New Orleans Architecture Photographs, Southeastern Architectural Archive, Special Collections Division, Tulane University Libraries.

Signage Crack Down 1948

In August 1948, The Times-Picayune published mention of an affidavit filed in recorders' court against the Old Barn Bar, 200 Royal Street. The Vieux Carre Commission (VCC) sought the removal of the bar's murals on the grounds that they violated a city ordinance regulating the amount of front footage such illustrations could occupy. VCC architect Walter Cook Keenan (1881-1970) recorded the violations in photographs taken August 18th (above).

The Old Barn Bar's murals were painted by French Quarter artist George Bohland, a pastelist who frequently sketched tourists in Pirate's Alley. Some of his pastels may be found in the Smithsonian's Duke Ellington Collection.

Images above: Walter Cook Keenan, 200 Royal Street. 18 August 1948. Walter Cook Keenan New Orleans Architecture Photographs, Southeastern Architectural Archive, Special Collections Division, Tulane University Libraries.