The Sazerac: America's First Cocktail Was Born in New Orleans
America's First CocktailThe Sazerac is not just a drink. It is a declaration — a statement that New Orleans invented cocktail culture and has been perfecting it ever since. One of the oldest known ...
Mr. Bingle: The Beloved Snowman Who Owns Christmas in New Orleans
The Snowman Who Owned ChristmasBefore there was an Elf on the Shelf, before there was a Buddy the Elf, there was Mr. Bingle — a little snowman with holly wings, a red ribbon, an ice cream cone hat,...
Micaela Almonester: The Baroness Who Built Jackson Square's Pontalba Buildings
The Baroness Who Built Jackson SquareMicaela Almonester, Baroness de Pontalba, was born in New Orleans in 1795 to one of the wealthiest families in the city. Her father, Don Andrés Almonester y Roj...
Benny & Clovis Martin: The Brothers Who Invented the Po-Boy
The Brothers Who Invented the Po-BoyBenny and Clovis Martin were streetcar conductors who changed jobs and changed culinary history. In 1922, the brothers opened a coffee stand in the French Market...
Ernie K-Doe: The Emperor of the Universe and His Mother-in-Law
The Emperor of the UniverseErnie K-Doe had one massive hit, a larger-than-life personality, and the audacity to declare himself the Emperor of the Universe — and somehow, in New Orleans, nobody arg...
Ruby Bridges: The Six-Year-Old Who Desegregated New Orleans Schools
Six Years Old and Braver Than a CityOn November 14, 1960, a six-year-old girl named Ruby Bridges walked into William Frantz Elementary School in the Upper Ninth Ward of New Orleans and changed the ...
Paul Morphy: The New Orleans Chess Genius Who Conquered the World
The Greatest Chess Player the World Had Ever SeenPaul Charles Morphy was born in New Orleans in 1837 to a wealthy, prominent Creole family, and by the age of twelve he had defeated the Hungarian ch...
Ruthie the Duck Girl: The French Quarter's Most Beloved Eccentric
The French Quarter's Most Eccentric RegularIn a neighborhood famous for its characters, Ruthie the Duck Girl stood apart. Born Ruth Grace Moulon, she was a fixture of the French Quarter for decades...
Lee Harvey Oswald: The Most Infamous Person Born in New Orleans
Born and Raised in New OrleansLee Harvey Oswald is the most infamous person ever born in New Orleans, a distinction that the city neither claims nor can deny. He was born on October 18, 1939, in th...
Gumbo: The Dish That Tells the Whole Story of New Orleans
The Dish That Tells the Whole StoryGumbo is New Orleans in a bowl. It is African in its use of okra, French in its roux, Spanish in its seasoning, Native American in its filé powder, and Cajun, Cre...
Jazz Funerals: Mourning and Celebrating in the Same Breath
Mourning and Celebrating in the Same BreathThe jazz funeral is New Orleans' most profound cultural expression — a ritual that combines mourning and celebration, grief and joy, in a way that makes p...
Higgins Boats: The New Orleans Landing Craft That Won World War II
The Boat That Won the WarOn June 6, 1944, thousands of Allied soldiers stormed the beaches of Normandy in the most important amphibious assault in military history. The boats that carried them to s...
Roman Candy: The Mule-Drawn Candy Wagon Rolling Since 1915
The Mule-Drawn Candy WagonSince 1915, the Roman Candy wagon has been rolling through the streets of New Orleans, pulled by a mule, selling freshly made taffy-like candy from a vintage wooden cart t...
Ignatius J. Reilly: The Literary Icon in the Green Hunting Cap
The Green Hunting Cap and the ValveIgnatius J. Reilly is the protagonist of A Confederacy of Dunces, John Kennedy Toole's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, and he is one of the most memorable, infuriat...
Morgus & Chopsley: The Mad Scientist of New Orleans Television
The Mad Scientist of New Orleans TelevisionBefore horror hosts became a national phenomenon, New Orleans had Morgus the Magnificent — a mad scientist character who introduced horror films and perfo...
Oak Trees: The Living Monuments of New Orleans
The City's Living MonumentsThe live oak trees of New Orleans are the oldest residents of the city, silent witnesses to every chapter of its history, their massive limbs reaching across avenues and ...
Jazz: The Music Born on the Streets of New Orleans
Born Right HereJazz was not invented in a conservatory or a recording studio. It was invented on the streets, in the dance halls, in the churches, and in the backyards of New Orleans, where African...
Mardi Gras Beads: Throw Me Something, Mister
Throw Me Something, MisterThe phrase echoes down every parade route in New Orleans, shouted by children on ladders, adults on tiptoes, and everyone in between: "Throw me something, mister!" And wha...
King Cakes: Purple, Green, Gold, and a Tiny Plastic Baby Inside
Purple, Green, Gold, and a Tiny Plastic BabyFrom Epiphany on January 6th through Fat Tuesday, New Orleans enters king cake season — a weeks-long celebration of a ring-shaped pastry decorated in the...
Beignets: Powdered Sugar on Everything and Everyone
Powdered Sugar on EverythingThe beignet is a square of fried dough covered in powdered sugar, and it is perfect. It was brought to New Orleans by French settlers in the eighteenth century, and in t...
