B

Bali Hai' at the Beach

Photo Source: http://www.wyes.org/pages/lost_restaurants.htm#top ----- Remember the Polynesian restaurant, Bali Ha'i, at the main entrance to Pontchartrain Beach? Does anyone recall if the food was at all appetizing? My memory wants to tell me that there were several tasty dishes on the menu, but my memory "ain't what it used to be"! The atmosphere was great and at certain times you were brought from the parking lot to the Bali Ha'i entrance in a jeep decorated with palm fronds and tropical flowers. Errol Laborde told me once that he and Peggy Scott Laborde had their wedding reception at Bali Ha'i. ----- I always wanted to go to the Bali H'ai, but my parents wouldn't take me, saying I was too young. I never did get there, so in my mind it is the most glamorous and exotic restaurant ever to grace New Orleans, with a menu full of delicious tropical drinks and tasty island tidbits. No reality could have lived up to what I imagined going on in there. I did find a Bali H'ai "tiki glass" in a French Quarter junque shoppe a few years ago, and promptly snatched it up as a memento of my feverish childhood fantasies. ----- I remember that the Bali Ha'i was a special place to go on a date . Prom kids went there, people went there to propose, for anniversaries, birthdays. I recall we dressed to go to the Bali Ha'i, at least wearing a jacket if not a tie. They served all of the exotic drinks with names like "fog cutter", "typhoon" and, of course the "tiki bowl" with all the straws to accomodate everyone at the table. Dang if I can remember even one thing that was on the menu! Anyone got a Bali Ha'i menu out there? Maybe I didn't eat? Maybe I just sipped on that Tiki Bowl all night? ----- In 1959 "THE BEACH BEACH-COMER" AT PONTCHARTRAIN BEACH was the restaurant. THE "BEACH-COMER EXISTED FOR ONLY ONE YEAR (I'M TOLD) BEFORE BEING RE-NAMED "THE BALI-HAI.

banqette

a sidewalk.

Basement Bookshop & Library

Tess Crager's Basement Bookshop was as much a New Orleans literary salon as it was a bookstore. The Zimpel Street address was also home to Robert L. Crager & Company, publishers of works by Lyle Saxon, John Chase, and Pierce Butler. Source: http://www.nutrias.org/~nopl/monthly/dec2000/basement.htm

Beatle's at City Park Stadium

The Poster

Beatle's at City Park Stadium

The Ticket

Begues Exchange / Tujague's Restaurant

A street scene view showing Begues Exchange, New Orleans, LA by Detroit Publishing Company No 8382. The building now is the home of Tujague's Restaurant on Decatur near the French Market.

Belgian Real Lace Shop

The Belgian Real Lace Shop was a specialty store in the Vieux Carre. As its prices suggest, discerning customers could find some serious lace on Royal Street. It was located at 304 Royal Street. Source: http://www.nutrias.org/~nopl/monthly/dec2000/belgian.htm

Bergeron Studio

Greg The Bergeron Studio Mon Dec 16 2002 6:35:17 pm We had a nice Christmas party combined with an opening of C. Bennett Moore antique photographs at Joe Bergeron's studio and gallery last Saturday night. One of the most interesting Moore photo originals was of two black chimney sweeps in traditional sweep garb standing on the street in the FQ, taken in 1910. If you are interested in old New Orleans and wonderful photogrpahy, visit the studio in the 500 block of Natchez, off Magazine and Poydras. Cathy http://www.bergeronstudio.com/stu.html Check out Joe Bergeron's studio website. He's got some great old shots of New Orleans in the 'Gallery' section. Absolutely beautiful

Bernard and Grunning's

Bernard and Grunning's jewelry store was located (at the time this ad ran) near the Roosevelt Hotel/now the Fairmont. It moved to several locations on Baronne Street from the 1930s through the early 1970s. It no longer exists. It was located at 108 Baronne St. Source: http://www.nutrias.org/~nopl/monthly/dec2000/grunning.htm

BIG SHOT Cola

Mike BIG SHOT the Pineapple was my favorite but these soft drinks came in many flavors including "Red Drink".

Billboards around the City

Posted by: Dawleen at Sun Jun 16 04:29:50 2002 Message: Remember Canal Street at night, before the suburban shopping centers drew business away from New Orleans' downtown? Many of the buildings had huge billboards atop them and there were two that fascinated me when my Sister and I were treated to a movie with Mom and Dad. There was one sign on the roof of either Loews State Theater or the Joy Theater (can't remember which!) and this sign was illuminated and animated by thousands of light bulbs that created stick-man figures performing amusing little actions 'way up there in the nighttime sky. There was another sign that captured our rapt attention and it may have been on the roof of the Roosevelt Hotel (now the Fairmont). This sign featured a huge picture of a man smoking a cigarette and he would blow real smoke rings from an opening in his mouth. Does anyone remember a particular billboard that might have captured your youthful (or adult) attention? Topic: Crystal Preserves Posted by: Cathyc at Thu Jun 20 20:28:45 2002 Message: I love that Crystal Preserves guy-- he's bin sturrin' nat stuff witha steam comin' off a' it fah as long as ah kin remembah. Where exactly is that billboard? Posted by: BB at Fri Jun 21 06:58:34 2002 Message: As you are entering the I-10 from Tulane Ave., he's right dere to your right. Posted by: OKYat at Sun Jun 16 15:07:11 2002 Message: I don't remember those billboards, but we didn't go to "town" very often at night. I do remember a running neon sign on top of one of the bowling alleys where a man bowled a strike every time. Topic: O'Shannnesay's? Posted by: Cathy at Sun Jun 16 20:26:21 2002 Message: Spelling probably wrong but I think the place may b right. Is that it? Posted by: Dawleen at Mon Jun 17 14:40:35 2002 Message: Was that on Airline at the Parish Line? I think there was also a night club there called the Alibi Lounge. Posted by: OKYat at Tue Jun 18 10:06:36 2002 Message: I think it was on Airline near the parish line. I also remember there was O'Dwyer's bowling alley, too, but I don't have a clue where it was. Photo credit: http://tory.klyce.com/signs.htm

Blackened Redfish

LakeviewGal Yeah, dawlin', have a hawt! Every time I read about all that good food I remember so well, I go "Waaaahhhhh" - sort of like the way Lucy used to cry on "I Love Lucy". We have a few so-called "Cajun" style restaurants here - one is supposed to be good, but pricey - haven't tried it yet. And it appears that generally the most common cuisine exported at all from Louisiana is Cajun. I mean, here they don't really know very much about all the other great New Orleans cooking. (I think they confuse Cajun with New Orleans.) So I'm always very skeptical as to the authenticity of any dish that purports to be "New Orleans style" this-or-that. Now, this may open up a whole can of worms, but let's talk "blackened". It seems to me that I heard that this cooking technique was invented by Paul Prudhomme. I certainly never heard of it when I was growing up in N.O. My mother (a GREAT cook) was half Italian and half Cajun, and she said when food got "blackened", they threw it away because it was just plain burnt! She didn't remember ever encountering the "blackened" thing in her childhood, and her mother was 100% Cajun. So what's the story, folks? Is this a relatively recent technique, and did it in fact start with Prudhomme? P.S. I have not to this day tasted anything "blackened". Is it really good? Cathy It's good when done right: When Paul Prudhomme started the craze, this was a unique and tastey dish. Then just about every restuarant all over the country jumped on the bandwagon (which nearly depleted our local redfish)and served burned food (like ya Mama tawked about). People seemed to think this was authentic Cajun food. We just laughed--the way we laugh at movies filmed in N.O. where everbody has a southern drawl but ends sentences with "...,Cher". I remember this blackened craze being followed by a pepper craze. Cayenne became the rage. I knew people who raved about new dishes at restaurants and how wonderfully "spicey" they were. To my taste, this stuff wasn't spicey (it wasn't even good) it was just peppery as hell. LakeviewGal And speaking of redfish... my great-aunt (who was Irish) used to make something she called "fish salad". I haven't tasted it since I was very young. I know she used redfish and it was a mayonnaise-y lemon-y sort of dish, and delicious! Does anyone know of it and where I might find a recipe? (Not that I could get redfish here, I'd have to substitute.) Cathy Drum or Sheapshead: maks a good substitute for redfish, but I don't know if you can get either of these in Canada. Never had anything like your aunt's redfish salad, but it sounds delicious. If ya come up with a recipe, let us know. My "step-granfather" was an avid fisherman. We always had redfish coming out the wahoo in our freezer when I was a kid. My mother is an excellent and imaginative cook. But all she ever did with the redfish was make Coubillion (sp?). Back in those days of meatless Fridays, seems like all we ever had was Coubillion or cod fish cakes. Took me a long time before I started liking either of these again. LakeviewGal Thanks for confirming that! And yeah - other than "blackened", all people here seem to associate with N.O. food is pepper, pepper and more pepper. I try to patiently explain to them that you can have authentic New Orleans or Cajun cooking without overdoing the pepper. (Although my Canadian husband loves Louisiana Hot Sauce - but then, his parents are from Hungary, so that's a whole 'nother story, cuisine-wise!). Another thing I have patiently explained hundreds of times here is why I don't sound like I just stepped out of Gone With the Wind. The N.O. accent is tough to describe, though. When I tell people we don't have that deep-south drawl, they look like they think I'm making it up! :)

Blue Room at the Roosevelt Hotel

'On October 31, 1923, the former Gruenwald hotel (built in 1893)was renamed The Roosevelt in honor of Theodore Rosevelt who had died in 1919. In 1927, The Roosevelt became campaign headquarters for Louisiana's most colorful politician, Governor (later Senator) Huey Long who lived in a suite in the hotel. Long held sway with his political cronies in what is now known as The Sazerac Bar, named for The Sazerac, claimed to be the world's first cocktail invented in New Orleans in 1859. During this era, the hotel became famous nationwide for The Blue Room, the city's premier supper club, offering fine dining and the world's top entertainment, among them, Marlene Dietrich, Jimmy Durante, Tony Bennett and Frank Sinatra. The Blue Room was located above what was believed to be the first nightclub in America. It was called The Cave and opened in 1908 offering lavish revues with Ziegfeld-style chorus girls and live Dixieland bands in a setting of stalactites and waterfalls.' Source: http://www.fairmontneworleans.com/news2.html Submitted by Henry Harmison ~~~~~ ~~~~~ LakeviewGal Blue Room Fri Jan 3 2003 1:08:47 pm When I was growing up, it was a popular night spot - not really for the young crowd, more for their parents' generation. The entrance was from the lobby of the old Roosevelt Hotel. Leon Kelner's orchestra played there, and they had fairly big names as headliners.

Blue Room at the Roosevelt Hotel - above The Cave

Image one

Blue Room at the Roosevelt Hotel - above The Cave 2

Image two

Bobo

The cut on ya fingah dat ya mama kissed. Much of the world mistakenly calls them "boo boos," which all us yats know is HOW ya got dat bobo!

Body Parts

Awms = arms
Grammaw Beads = Grandma Beads = Dirt in the creases of the neck. When little boys would get really dirty and sweaty, they would get grandma beads under their arms.
Hairs = Hair, as in ....."Gawd, dawlin' my hairs, they're so disgustin' I think I'm gonna go wash them in the zink"!
hawt = heart, as in "In my hawt of hawt's I loved that child".
Head = Hair, as in "I have go wash my head".
Teet = Teeth, as in "I have to go wash my teet".
Trash Mouth = Trench Mouth (a disease)
Toe Cheese = Dirt and grime stuck between the toes

Bowl-a-Rama

Julie Was located at on Jefferson Highway near "the curve". Hey, how about the bowling alley above shoe town (wasn't it on Jefferson Hwy.) We sure had some good times there. I do believe I remember that I always had to keep the score..Hick!

Breakfast

LakeviewGal Insignificant little question... Fri Dec 20 2002 10:23:12 am I was just wondering - a little food memory from my childhood is that people used to butter French bread and dunk it into their coffee. Was this just a New Orleans custom? Sounds a bit yucchy, since you'd get a bit of melted butter in the coffee, but actually I remember that it tasted good! Greg my standard breakfast... That was my standard breakfast on school days. My mom would toast the french bread in the oven already lightly buttered cut in fours lenght-ways and make cafe au lait. I don't know when I started eating this but it lasted through high school. I did not actually start drinking coffee by the cup until college. Cathy French Bread Ends... hollowed out and filled with condensed milk. Old timers tell me about this. I never had it but it sure sounds good. But they don't call them "ends", they say "knobs". LakeviewGal Yeah, I've heard of that, too... and my old-timer dad says he used to drink condensed milk right out of the can when he was young. Wow - talk about sugar shock! Cathy Hey Lakeview... Isn't your father in his late 80s? I guess he proves the doctors wrong--anybody who drank condensed milk out of the can and lived to be an octogenarian must have done some things right. LakeviewGal Yep, my dad's 88... ...and grew up eating all the fatty (delicious) N.O. foods. But in middle age he discovered health foods and took lecithin, wheat germ, vitamins, etc. for years. Also, all that "tomato gravy" since childhood probably helped, because now we hear that the lycopene in it is very good for you. Seems to me there are a few participants in this forum whose parents or grandparents are in their 80's and 90's. Who knows how much of it is due to life style and how much to genes? (Not smoking helps, though!) OkieYat Longevity... I had three maiden lady aunts who all lived their entire lives in N.O. and all to their late eighties. They drank the river water, fried everything they possibly could, and only exercised if it the end result was something that needed to be done such as walking to the bus or mowing the grass - never exercise for exercise sake. One of their brothers who lived the same "unhealthy" lifestyle is now 85, still hale, hearty, and probably in better shape than me. I suspect genetics is the factor working in their case. Cathy ...and V-8... One of my younger co-workers was telling us the other day that when she was pregnant she craved condensed milk and V-8...a spoon full'a condensed milk, a sip'pa V-8, a spoon full... For me it was cold stuff. Watermelon in February. Ice Cream. Frostys. Etc. Dawleen Bluddee Merreeze... Do enny uv yawl remembuh Tyler's awn Maggazeen an' Bellecastle? Dey yousta make uh ersta daiquiri dat wood nock ya sox awf! It wus a playne an' simpul bluddy merree widduh couple aw t'ree erstas innit an' wizzed inna blenduh (uh cawse it had duh requisite amownt uh hawseradish an' udda stuff innit ta make it tayse good, ya' know!). Cathy Ya Got Ma Mout' Wahterin'... I'm thinkin' of a Bloody Mary with'tha oystahs thrown in whole. Spicy V-8, hawse-radish, Lea & Perrin's, Crystal Hot Sauce, lemon juice, some Tony's and gawlic salt, an' a half a dozen cold, salty raw ones thrown in right off'fa da shell. Who needs celery when ya got raw oystahs ta chew on? Dawleen Awwww, Cathy......! Ya' maykin' me have uh awgunizum! Cathy I know what'cha mean... I can't wait ta try dis cause ah know it's gon'na be an awganic expeerience. Ah don't think one'na dese is gon'na be enough to satisfy my needs. So ahm lookin' fawwud to one'na nem multiple awganisms. AlertReader V-8... I'll have my V-8 with vodka and extra pickled green beans, please.