Neat ad from the 1889 edition of the Crescent Steam Printing House.

Ursuline Academy "below New Orleans?"

That's right. Ursuline Academy started as a French Quarter school, at the Old Ursuline Convent on Rue Chartres and Rue Ursuline. That's the "Established in 1727" you see in the ad. The convent building got too big for the school, however, and the Ursulines acquired a mansion on the corner of Esplanade and North Rampart. Three years after this ad ran, in 1892, the sisters determined that their education mission would be better served by a location in Uptown New Orleans. They sold their building in the Marigny to the Brothers of the Sacred Heart, who moved St. Aloysius College from Barracks and Chartres to Esplanade and North Rampart.

Congrats to Crusader Wrestling Coach Robbie Dautrieve, on being named the Times-Picayune's metro Coach of the Year! Coach Dautrieve and his team won State last month.

The Times-Picayune, December 12, 1930

We hear all the "new media gurus" talking about companies that both sell hardware and provide content. This is not a new idea! Maison Blanche was doing this as early as the 1920s. Here's an ad for the MB "Radio Department" at the Canal Street store. And why did you need such a nice radio? To listen to WSMB, of course! Notice the call letters of the station. The "S" was for Saenger, as in the Saenger Theater, and the MB was the department store.

Canal Street, looking up from St. Charles Avenue. Alexander Allison photo from the New Orleans Public Library. This is Carnival, 1908. Construction on the "new Maison Blanche" is underway. S.J. Shwartz's plan was to demolish the back of the Mercier Building (the "original MB") and build out the half of the new building closer to Rue Iberville first. The store stayed open in the front of the old building while the five stories of retail space and eight additional stories of office space were built. When the back tower was complete, the store was moved into the new space, and the rest of the old building was demolished.

It's Carnival Time! The crowd's waiting for a parade to go up Canal Street. This was likely shot on Mardi Gras Day, because the crowd spills over from the neutral ground (the streetcar zone) into the inbound auto lanes.

Mr. Allison worked for the New Orleans Sewerage and Water Board for years, and was quite the amateur photographer. Because his job took him all over the city, his photo collection spans decades and covers wide amounts of the city.

Inside Maison Blanche's store in Gentilly, located on Frenchmen Street and Gentilly Road, 1948. This was a landmark year for MB. The store expanded out beyond Canal Street and the Budget Annex on Iberville into the 'burbs. MB opened the store on Carrollton and Tulane, followed just a couple of months later by this store in Gentilly.

MB converted this store to a Budget Store in the 1960s, when Gentilly Woods Shopping Center opened. The location is now an Auto Zone store.

In 1951 and 1952, Maison Blanche partnered up with Eastern Airlines to "fly in" Santa and Mr. Bingle. The airline loaded up Santa on a plane and flew him and the little guy into Moisant Field (now Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport). The store had a big event, then a parade up Airline Highway to Tulane Avenue, to Canal Street and MB. This was one of the build-up ads run in the week prior to the arrival and parade, held on a Saturday.

Right behind the MB building was the "Maison Blanche Budget Annex." The merchandise in the Budget Store was a mix of less-expensive (but nonetheless profitable) items the buyers didn't want to put side-by-side with the regular stock, as well as opened/returned items that could still be sold. I've got a couple of photos from the 1960s where Canal Street employees were given $10 or $20 and told to go buy an outfit for work at the Budget Annex which would fit the employee dress code. They could easily come up with nice stuff.

I remember, back in the 1980s, I had moved on from MB to teaching high school. I was working at Radio Shack, dealing with the whole "blue law" issue. Because the Budget Annex was technically in the French Quarter, it was exempt from the blue law (tourism, etc.) I'm told some of the buyers would move the "good stuff" from Canal Street back to the annex on Sundays in December to boost sales.

The Budget Annex was so popular that the chain expanded the concept as it grew. When the opportunity to open stores in Carrollton and Gentilly Woods shopping centers opened up, the stores on Carrollton and Tulane and Gentilly Road near Elysian Fields were converted to Budget Stores. Same for Airline, after the Clearview store opened.

From the Times-Picayune, November 11, 1948. Notice the "who is Mr. Bingle?" at the bottom of the ad--Mr. Bingle was barely a year old at this point, so naturally, he needed to be explained.

The "Maison Blanche Tire Store," on Airline Highway, 1960. This Franck Studios photo shows MB's foray into automobile service. DH Holmes followed suit, opening an auto center at the Lakeside Shopping Center, and Sears' auto center at Clearview Mall is still open.

Notice the billboard for Brennan's Restaurant in the left background. The MB Tire Center was on the river side of Airine Highway (US 61). At the time, Airline Highway was, along with Jefferson Highway (US 90), the main approach to New Orleans from the west. US 61 connected New Orleans and Baton Rouge, long before Interstate 10 was constructed.

Thanks to Maple Street Book Shop for having me in last night to sign the book. It was a great time.

I stopped over at the used book shop, next door to the "original" shop, and was immediately challenged by one of the Guardians Of Used Books. :-)

While chatting with @brookssigler at the used book shop, I noticed this calendar on the counter. Being a UNO grad, I'm no big fan of Tulane, but vintage NOLA photos and memorabilia are wonderful!

Also, Veronica's got a great selection of moleskeines at the used shop. Buy local!