This comic depiction of the final General Meeting minutes from the March 1968 Lagniappe may strike a chord even in 2018. Photo provided by: Louisiana State Museum Historical Center. Gift of the Junior League of New Orleans. The Junior League of New Orleans Collection, record group JLSB36, 2014.011.01 – 2014.016.039.
One of the wonderful things about writing the Heritage article for JLNO’s Lagniappe magazine is getting to visit the Archives at the U.S. Mint, which houses a wonderful lifetime of JLNO scrapbooks.
Flipping through the aged scrapbook pages with articles from local news sources (and several national publications) highlighting the work JLNO has been doing in the New Orleans community all these years is a delightful treat. Yet, what is even more exciting is stumbling upon our League’s own publication – Lagniappe!
It is especially hard not to stop and read through the entire versions of past issues of Lagniappe: the content is exceptional and these women were clever writers. The witticism of some articles provides true laugh-out-loud moments. Take, for example, the article titles “What to do When Your Husband Goes to 40 Football Games” (November, 1967) and “Your Rummage Image” (October, 1962).
The first article tallies the number of home teams’ games (LSU, Tulane and Saints) and how to go about getting in the football spirit. The second article describes two League members sorting donations and the interesting items that perhaps should not have found their way into the thrift store.
Additionally, the yard and garden articles were so well written that if they were published today, our local garden companies might be up in arms because of the secrets revealed on how to keep a Garden-District-worthy garden blooming in all seasons.
Last but certainly not least, it is noteworthy that many of the local businesses who advertise with Lagniappe today were publicizing their businesses with JLNO way back when – Town & Country, Rayne Nursery (now RECP) and Martin Wine Cellar, just to name a few.
The Lagniappe staff always hopes readers enjoy the current content: keep in mind if you stumble across a vintage edition, it is worth having a read!