Julia Street with Poydras the Parrot

Dear Julia,

I was parking my car in the lot of 2645 Toulouse Street, in front of the SBP building and adjacent to the Broad Theatre. It’s a spot I park in frequently. Today’s rain revealed a white placard in the pavement, which caught my attention. It reads, “BROAD STREET Carnival and Pleasure Club Dec 2, 1945.” Do you have any information on the club and if they paraded? LaWanda Smith (Metairie, LA)

Club president Sidney J. LeBlanc, Sr. formally dedicated the Broad Street Carnival and Pleasure Club, 600 N. Broad St., with a flag-raising which took place on December 2, 1945. The club filed its charter two weeks later.

The Broad Street Carnival and Pleasure Club is known to have paraded in 1947 and, again, on Mardi Gras Day 1948. It was a small neighborhood affair in which two bands and one float accompanied the marching club. Grand Marshall Joseph LeConte led the procession which began at the club’s den on Bayou Road and proceeded down Broad to Perdido before turning around and returning to the starting point to disband. A ball followed at the Top Hat Club on North Broad and St. Ann. Mrs. Albert Pettingill reigned as queen; her court included maids Joyce Silvers, Louise Bienvenu, Jacqueline Bordes and Carol Cruz.  Dianne Juge and Camelo Tessitore were her pages.  

The Broad Street Carnival and Pleasure Club paraded again, perhaps for the last time, on Mardi Grad Day 1949, following a slightly different route. A ball followed at Deutsches Haus.

 

Dear Julia.

I heard many years ago, that there was/is a law that says a poor boy sandwich had to be at least 11” to be called a poor boy. Is this true or just fiction?  

I really enjoy your and Poydras the Parrot’s column in New Orleans Magazine each month and basically it is the first column I read. Don Gaudin (New Orleans)

It may be a matter of pride to see how one’s poor boy measures up against the competition, but I found nothing in the city or state legal codes stipulating that poor boy sandwiches must be any particular length. There are, however, numerous laws concerning the sanitary handling and retail packaging of flour, bread and ready-made sandwiches, helping assure that one’s lunch doesn’t come with sawdust or salmonella lagniappe.   

 

Dear Miss Julia,

I was in your city about four or five years ago. As I was leaving Café du Monde, walking down Decatur toward Canal Street, I noticed on my left side a crew working on a plain stand-alone dark brown brick building about four or five stories high. They appeared to be tearing it down. Although I have never seen it used for anything, I just hope it’s still there. Please help!  

I remember seeing it from a Decatur Street service station. Fan forever, Bob Furlong (Oak Creek, WI)

The brick building you are remembering still stands in a large parking lot in the block bounded by N. Peters, N. Front, Bienville and Iberville. When it was built, around 1912, as part of the American Sugar Company’s Louisiana Refinery, it stood at the corner of Bienville and Clay, a short street which formerly ran through the middle of the block.  The building has been under renovation in recent years.

You most definitely could, in years gone by, see the red brick sugar building from a Decatur Street service station. Built around 1927 for the St. Bernard Oil Company, the station formerly stood at the Conti Street end of an irregular block bounded by Conti, Decatur, N. Peters and Bienville. The station was partially demolished in the late 1980s and the remainder was recently razed.


Have a question for Julia?

Send your question to: Julia Street, New Orleans Magazine, 110 Veterans Blvd., Suite 123, Metairie, LA 70005 or email: Julia@myneworleans.com.


 

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