New Orleans 360˚

Fifty years ago, The Times-Picayune reported on an important shipment from Stamford, CT to New Orleans. The Macton Machinery Company had completed the fabrication and assembly of the enormous turntable to be installed on the roof of Edward Durell Stone's International Trade Mart (ITM, now World Trade Center). Created with 180 low supporting wheels and 45 horizontal stabilizing wheels, the turntable resembled an enormous lazy susan measuring 97'11" in diameter.(1) Macton's team reassembled the turntable in New Orleans, and the ITM's rotating restaurant and cocktail lounge, the Top of the Mart, celebrated its grand opening on 2 January 1967.

Macton devoted its operations to the manufacture of such steel turntables. They initially undertook much smaller platforms, first for tailors and then for portable entertainment. Popular Mechanics reported on their products during the 1950s-60s. Frank Lloyd Wright utilized Macton turntables in his Park Avenue Jaguar (later Mercedes-Benz) showroom (1955) and the Kalita Humphreys Theatre (Dallas, 1959).

In 1911, millionaire Mary (Mrs. Levi Z.)  Leiter designed and built a revolving glass summer house in Beverly, Massachusetts:

"It stands at the end of some small gardens on a terrace overlooking the beach and sea. Its roof is constructed of small poles and is supported by rustic posts covered with rough bark. Around three sides of the structure heavy plates of glass are set. Curtains within are so arranged that the occupants can protect themselves from the hottest glare of the sun's rays. The structure is balanced upon ball bearings as nicely as the carriage of an expensive telescope."(2)

While Leiter's invention was meant to provide a healthy recreational experience, it was an Alsatian-born waiter turned restaurateur who patented revolving dining room floors in order to reduce the wear and tear on service workers. Antonie Martzolf filed his revolving dining room floor scheme in 1914 while managing the Gustony Restaurant at West 32nd Street in New York. He also developed a patent for a combination electric match stand and waiter-signal device so that customers could signal staff without noise.

The New Orleans Monteleone Hotel's Carousel Lounge operates on a similar principle to Martzolf's revolving dining room floor, only with bar staff situated at the center while customers make their 15-minute rotation. The Carousel opened in early September 1949, with bartenders serving a trademark cocktail, the Carousel. Glenn Flanders (1913-98), a University of Missouri-Columbia fine arts graduate based in St. Louis, designed the original Carousel interiors.

In 1958, a father-son team from New Orleans patented a rotating circular bed with an attached headboard-shelving unit-chairs. But that's another story.


(1)"Ship Unit to N.O. for ITM Tower." The Times-Picayune 20 December 1964.

(2)"Revolving House for Mrs. Leiter Nicely Balanced on Ball Bearings." The Times-Picayune 29 May 1911.

Images above:  Popular Mechanics: January 1951 & July 1964.

New Orleans Groggery

In the early twentieth century, bankers and businessmen working in New Orleans' Central Business District shared a dining and drinking establishment, the Old 27, located on the first floor at 215 Carondelet Street (building with circular signage in photo above). The Sportsmen's Conservation Club gathered there for its annual banquet in 1912 and the next year the Jones Island Pleasure Club did the same. The latter showed motion pictures of Jones Island (Manchac) and Professor Peter Schaff's orchestra performed "while an army of waiters attended to their wants."(1)

Named for its pre-1895 street number, the Old 27 was a well-known groggery that had changed hands a number of times by 1913, when it was run by Frenchman Francois Sartre (1856-1921). Born in Bordeaux, Sartre moved to Louisiana around 1886, first working as a chef for the Godchaux in Reserve, Louisiana before his reputation prompted the Aliciatore family to hire him in New Orleans. Once he had accumulated sufficient capital, he opened his first restaurant in Biloxi and later his second in the Old 27.

Prohibition doomed the 40-year-old watering hole. The Times-Picayune quoted Sartre:

'Prohibition! Quelle pensee, terrible! Avez un coeur! When you take wine from a Frenchman you might as well kill him. My friends, they say they shall go back to France if this country becomes dry. Me, I have already turned most of my place into a restaurant because I knew it was coming. It is hard. Why, I drink less than a half a gallon of water in a year; what shall I do when they take my wine? And what about my friends? They must suffer also. In France we put out absinthe and kept our wine when the war came on. In the United States they should put out whiskey and keep the wine and beer.'(2)

One year later, Sartre leased and renovated the former Ramos Gin Fizz Saloon at 712-714 Gravier Street and opened a new Francois. There, one could have the Daily Table D'Hote Dinner consisting of American turtle soup, filet of beef pique richelieu, and a lettuce and alligator pear salad for $1.25.(3)

(1)"Jones' Islanders." The Times-Picayune (16 February 1913): p. 15. In 1902, architect William Fitzner maintained offices upstairs.

(2)"Publicans Hit by 'Bone Dry' Edict Still Optimistic."  The Times-Picayune (19 January 1919): p. 27.

(3)"Francois Restaurant." The Times-Picayune (17 October 1920): p. 7.

Image above: "Cotton Exchange /Sun. July 27-1913." Miscellaneous Photographs Collection, Southeastern Architectural Archive, Special Collections Division, Tulane University Libraries.

Mama Lou's 1961

In 1961, freelance artist  Florence Mars (1923-2006) spent time at Mama Lou's Camp, which was located on Lake Pontchartrain in Little Woods. The structure was significantly damaged by fire months after Mars shot this photograph.

During the late 1940s Mars worked in Atlanta, but her grandfather's death in 1950 prompted her to spend more time in New Orleans. She became associated with the Allison Art Colony in Way, Mississippi and her 1955 painting Trumpet Player was exhibited in the colony's inaugural show at the Delgado Museum, now the New Orleans Museum of Art. Mars took many  photographs of New Orleans musicians, buildings and parades.  Christiern Albertson hired Mars -- along with Ralston Crawford --  to take photographs for Riverside Records' "Living Legends" series.

Florence Mars donated a number of photographs to Tulane University Libraries, but the bulk of her image archive was given to the Mississippi Department of Archives and History in 1982. Some of her jazz photographs may be consulted at Tulane University's Hogan Jazz Archive.

In the spring of 1947, the venue was advertised for sale as "Mamma Lou's."(1)

(1) Advertisement. The Times-Picayune 30 May 1947.


Photograph:  Florence Mars. Mama Lou's, Little Woods, New Orleans, LA. 1961. Southeastern Architectural Archive, Special Collections Division, Tulane University Libraries.  This image is issued by the Southeastern Architectural Archive. Use of the image requires written permission from the staff of the SEAA. It may not be sold or redistributed, copied or distributed as a photograph, electronic file, or any other media. The user is responsible for all issues of copyright.