Dear Julia,
My son recently did a research paper on New Orleans Statues. He gathered information on many of our beautiful landmarks, however he had difficulty obtaining any information on P.T.G. Beauregard who graces the entrance to City Park. I’m sure Poydras has flown over and rested on this brilliant sculpture. Can you please share information as to the sculptor and date erected. Thank you.
Susan Scotton
Metairie
Susan, Poydras stays away from statues because he says there are too many pigeons. Poydras’ psychiatrist marvels that he is the only parrot known to actually have a bird phobia.
Miss Hilda Beauregard unveiled her grandfather’s memorial on November 11, 1915. The dedication ceremony concluded the annual reunion and convention of the Louisiana Division of United Confederate Veterans.
The bronze equestrian statue is the work of sculptor Alexander Doyle (1857-1922). A native of Ohio, Alexander Doyle gave New Orleans some of its best-known public monuments, including works honoring General Robert E. Lee, Margaret Haughery and General Albert Sidney Johnson.
1915 postcard commemorating the dedication of the Beauregard monument.
Hi Julia,
We recently came across a box of soup labels in some old family documents. Apparently, my grandfather had something to do with the Creole Food Company of New Orleans.
Could you please tell me a little bit about the company or this “Laugh Eat” soup can label? It seems as though Creole Foods of New Orleans is no longer around and I wanted some information on this very beautiful soup label. I don’t know the age of the label but, from the looks of it, it was probably in the early 1930s or ‘40s. Thanks Julia!
Charles Jordy
Denver, CO
If you look very carefully at the label, by Jean Lafitte’s left elbow there’s a very tiny copyright notice that reads “©1938 C.F. Co.” The “C.F. Co.” apparently refers to the company’s name – Creole Foods of New Orleans was incorporated on June 5, 1940.
The company appears to have gone into operation during the second half of 1939. Originally located at 409 Bourbon St., it was run by Albert Stauffer Jordy.
Within two years, Creole Foods of New Orleans had re-located to 535 Toulouse St. At that time, Albert Jordy was company president while John C. Jordy served as vice-president and Cecile M. Jordy, Albert’s wife, was secretary-treasurer.
Creole Foods moved around quite a bit and was a short-lived family business. In 1944, the Jordys purchased the 615 Chartres St. location that would be the company’s last home. Cecile Mary Jordy sold the Chartres Street property in May 1946. The company last appeared in the 1949 city directory, so it appears that it went out of business some time between mid-1946 and mid-1948.
Perhaps advancing age or family illness were factors because Albert Stauffer Jordy passed away not too long afterwards, in January 1955; Cecile, his widow, died in May 1964.
“Laugh Eat” soup can label from Creole Foods of New Orleans © 1938.
Dear Julia and Poydras,
What year did it snow on Mardi Gras day? I remember snow on Feb. 22, Washington’s Birthday.
As I looked at the float with George Washington on it, I saw snowflakes in the sky. Do you know what year that occurred?
Jackie Nain
Houston, TX
Mardi Gras Day fell on Washington’s birthday in 1955 and the weather was awful. Rainy, windy and cold, the day’s high temperature was 46˚ and the low was 44˚.
In this century, Mardi Gras Day and Washington’s Birthday coincided four times – in 1944, ‘55, ‘66 and ‘77. Of those years, the weather was worst in 1955, when Rex’s theme was “Washington’s Birthday and Life.”
Newspaper coverage of the 1955 Mardi Gras day parades didn’t mention snow flurries. Even though the temperatures were too high to allow snow to remain on the ground, the weather was certainly damp and cold, so I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt about the flurry sighting.
Threatened with possible cancellation, Rex eventually hit the streets two hours late. A soggy Darwin S. Fenner, as Rex, did his best to make the best of the awful weather. Upon reaching City Hall, he toasted Mayor deLesseps S. Morrison and pronounced the day to be a “bright, sunny afternoon” but the good wishes and warm thoughts did nothing to dispel the cold rain.
Still, the soggy monarch tried to look his best under trying circumstances. At one point during the parade, Fenner’s wig got waterlogged and began to sag. Newspaper stories the following day reported that the ever-resourceful monarch took it all in stride, pausing briefly to call to the crowd and ask for a bobby pin. A kind but unnamed woman came to the king’s rescue, allowing him to pin up his drooping curls and regain his regal composure.
Dear Julia,
I was told by a member of our family that my great-great grandfather was a prominent physician in New Orleans during the time of about 1770 to 1830. His name is Joseph Berthelomy Conand, M.D. He and his father, Jaques Francois Conand (or Santiago Francisco Conand in the Spanish version,) owned a good deal of property in the French Quarter. The family lore is that they owned the property on which the U.S. Mint is located and they sold the property to the government for that purpose.
Would you be kind enough to send Poydras to “peek through” the archival records and verify that for me? I would be grateful, as I have been curious as to whether or not that is true. Thanks.
June Conand Ackermann
Metairie
June, Poydras isn’t doing much peeking through anything these days because he lost his contact lenses when he tried to switch them for colored ones that would give him blue eyes. No one would have believed his Sinatra impersonation anyway.
I’m sorry, but the historic record doesn’t corroborate your family lore. Prior to the property being the site of the U.S. Mint, it was Fort St. Charles. Actually, it was two different forts, bearing the same name. The first was built around 1760 while its replacement was completed in ‘93 and demolished in 1821. Following the fort’s demolition, the site became a public square named Jackson Square. In April 1835, the City Council retroceded the original Jackson Square to the federal government so that a branch of the U.S. Mint could be erected on the site.
