If you grew up in New Orleans, you know the feeling. It is not the first cool front that announces the holidays, and it is not even the king cake showing up early at the grocery store. It is the moment someone mentions Mr. Bingle. That little snowman with the ice cream cone hat and holly wings has been the unofficial starter pistol for Christmas in this city since 1947. Forget Rudolph. Forget Frosty. In New Orleans, the real holiday mascot has always been Mr. Bingle.
Born on Canal Street: The Mr. Bingle New Orleans Origin Story
The story starts at Maison Blanche, the grand department store that once anchored Canal Street the way a live oak anchors a neutral ground. In 1947, Emile Alline, the store's window display manager, traveled to Chicago to scout holiday displays. He came home with a vision: a cheerful snowman character who could become the face of Maison Blanche's Christmas season. The name was chosen through an employee contest, and the winning entry shared the store's initials. M.B. for Maison Blanche, M.B. for Mr. Bingle. It was the kind of clever shorthand this city loves.
And what a character they created. Mr. Bingle was no ordinary snowman. He was depicted with holly wings sprouting from his back, a jaunty red ribbon around his neck, and an upside-down ice cream cone perched on his head like a dunce cap from the most fun class you ever attended. He carried a candy cane like a wand, and his whole vibe was pure joy. A New Orleans Christmas mascot that felt less like a corporate creation and more like a neighbor who always went all out for the holidays.
Puppet Shows, TV Specials, and a 50-Foot Snowman
Here is where the story gets even more New Orleans. The man who brought Mr. Bingle to life through puppetry was Edwin "Oscar" Isentrout, a performer whose previous gig had been doing puppet shows on Bourbon Street. Not exactly the most family-friendly training ground, but this is New Orleans, and people contain multitudes. Isentrout gave Mr. Bingle a voice and a personality that captivated kids and adults alike.
Throughout the 1950s and 60s, Isentrout performed Mr. Bingle puppet shows in the Maison Blanche store windows every day during the weeks leading up to Christmas. Each show lasted about fifteen minutes, and the lines stretched down Canal Street. Parents brought their kids. Kids brought their friends. Eventually, Mr. Bingle made the jump to local television on WDSU, airing segments from Thanksgiving straight through to Christmas Eve. If you were a kid in New Orleans during those decades, Mr. Bingle was as essential to the season as gumbo on Christmas Day.
And then there was the big guy. Every holiday season, a 50-foot papier-mache Mr. Bingle was hoisted onto the front of the Maison Blanche building on Canal Street. Picture it: a five-story snowman beaming down at you while you walked past the department store windows. That image is burned into the memories of generations of New Orleanians.
Why Mr. Bingle Still Matters to New Orleans
Maison Blanche closed in 1998, bought out by Dillard's. The puppet shows had already ended in 1985 when Isentrout passed away. By all logic, Mr. Bingle should have faded into the same nostalgic fog as S&H Green Stamps and rotary phones. But this is New Orleans, a city that does not let go of things it loves. Not its music, not its recipes, and definitely not its holiday traditions.
Today, the giant Mr. Bingle figure lives at Celebration in the Oaks in City Park, where he greets visitors at the entrance to a display of more than a million LED lights strung through the ancient oaks. Dillard's still sells Mr. Bingle plush toys and ornaments, and you can spot his face on everything from coffee mugs to Christmas stockings in shops across the city. He became an enduring symbol of holiday joy for generations of New Orleanians, proof that some characters are bigger than the stores that created them.
There is something deeply New Orleans about that. This city has a talent for taking commercial things and turning them into communal traditions. A snowman mascot designed to sell department store merchandise became a genuine cultural touchstone, the kind of thing that makes expats tear up a little when they see a photo of him pop up in their feed every December. If you know, you know. It is a secret handshake, the same way spotting someone wearing a Be A New Orleanian Wherever You Are shirt at an airport three time zones away makes you want to yell, "Where y'at!"
How Dirty Coast Celebrates New Orleans Holiday Traditions
At Dirty Coast, we have always believed that the things that make New Orleans special deserve to be celebrated year-round, not just during the holidays. That is why so many of our designs feel like love letters to the city's quirks, traditions, and inside jokes. Our Nola Gothic design captures the beautifully strange spirit that makes this place unlike anywhere else. The Periodic Table of New Orleans catalogs the essential elements of the city, from Mardi Gras to second lines, from crawfish to Mr. Bingle himself.
And if you want to get into the full holiday spirit, our Cajun Night Before Christmas: 50th Anniversary Edition is the perfect companion piece to a season spent thinking about what makes a New Orleans Christmas so different from everywhere else. It is a celebration of the same energy that gave us Mr. Bingle: the idea that holidays here come with a little extra flavor, a little extra weirdness, and a whole lot of heart.
Jingle, Jingle, Mr. Bingle
"Jingle, jingle, jingle, here comes Mr. Bingle." If you just sang that in your head, you are one of us. That little jingle, that goofy snowman with his ice cream cone hat, that memory of pressing your nose against the Maison Blanche window as a kid or holding your own kid's hand at Celebration in the Oaks while they see the big Mr. Bingle for the first time: that is what New Orleans holiday traditions are made of.
Mr. Bingle is not just a Christmas decoration. He is a reminder that this city knows how to hold onto the things that matter. He is proof that joy, once created, does not have to expire when the store that made it closes its doors. He is, in his own small way, the most New Orleans thing imaginable: something that started as a marketing idea and became a piece of the city's soul.
Be A New Orleanian Wherever You Are. And wherever you are this holiday season, may there be a little Mr. Bingle magic in the air.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who created Mr. Bingle?
Mr. Bingle was created by Emile Alline, the window display manager at Maison Blanche department store in New Orleans, in 1947. The character was brought to life through puppetry by Edwin "Oscar" Isentrout starting in the late 1940s.
Where can I see Mr. Bingle today?
The large Mr. Bingle figure that once decorated Maison Blanche on Canal Street now lives at Celebration in the Oaks in City Park, where he greets visitors each holiday season. Dillard's stores also carry Mr. Bingle merchandise.
What does Mr. Bingle look like?
Mr. Bingle is a snowman with holly wings, a red ribbon, and an upside-down ice cream cone for a hat. He carries a candy cane and has a friendly, cheerful demeanor that has made him a beloved New Orleans Christmas mascot for nearly 80 years.
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