Unlike today, 19th-century New Orleans households were not blessed with air-conditioning. To keep the house as cool as possible during the blistering hot summer months, there were a number of ways to create an atmosphere that was less than furnace-like. Enter architect James Gallier Jr., who not only designed the Gallier House (1132 Royal St., French Quarter) — completed in 1860— to be more energy efficient, but had the interiors transformed into a seasonal oasis as per the custom. The Summer Dress exhibition and tour illustrates how heavy fabrics were switched out for lighter ones, such as linen and gauze; rugs were rolled up and replaced with matting. Plus, discover the groundbreaking-for-the-time architectural elements Gallier created for the house. Guided tours Weds.-Mon. through Sept. 9; hgghh.org, @hgrimagallier1831
Cake Walk
Take your cake-making skills to the next level at the Cake Decorating class at Café NOMA (in the New Orleans Museum of Art, 1 Collins Diboll Circle), Aug. 22. Decorative flowers, icing, edible painting and more are among the creative techniques Whitney Oliver, pastry supervisor from Ralph Brennan Bakery, will teach students, who can take home the mini-cakes they decorated. Ticket price also includes light appetizers and desserts and a glass of wine. cafenoma.com/the-art-of-summer, @cafenoma
Everything Old is New Again
Before plastic and other throwaway materials became somewhat the norm, recycling and repurposing objects was commonplace. To investigate the how and why people gave objects second lives, The Historic New Orleans Collection (410 Chartres St.) will host “New Lives for Old Things: Refashioning Southern Material Culture,” for this year’s New Orleans Antiques Forum, Aug. 8-11. Among the scheduled discussions are “Clothing as Currency,” “Simply Riveting: Broken and Mended Ceramics” and “Soul of the Home: Designing with Antiques.” Space is limited so preregistration is necessary. hnoc.org/antiques; @visit_hnoc
Gridiron Greatness
Time to bust out the tailgate fixings and football jerseys, it’s kick-off season! The New Orleans Saints’ pre-season starts on Aug. 10 with an out-of-town game against the Arizona Cardinals, followed by another out-of-town game Aug. 18 against the San Francisco 49ers. The team returns to the Caesars Superdome on Aug. 25 to play the Tennessee Titans at 1 p.m. The first regular season game is against the Carolina Panthers on Sept. 8. neworleanssaints.com, @Saints
Tulane University launches its season on Aug. 29 with a game against Southeastern Louisiana University, 7 p.m. at Yulman Stadium. This year’s team will be helmed by new head coach Jon Sumrall. tulanegreenwave.com, @greenwavefb
