Recording and PDF of the talk, “The Royal Blue Line” by Edward.
‘The Royal Blue Line” on Napoleon Avenue
Thanks to everyone who came out Tuesday to hear the talk on the Napoleon Streetcar at the Jefferson Parish Library’s East Bank Regional Branch. PDF of the presentation and the recording of the talk are included here.
Streetcars ran on Napoleon Avenue from 1850 to 1953. The New Orleans & Carrollton Railroad (NO&CRR) operated the “Carrollton” line, later the “St. Charles” line, beginning in 1831. They began with steam train service, which morphed into mule-drawn streetcars in 1845. In 1850, NO&CRR extended their operations with a branch line on Napoleon Avenue. Starting at St. Charles Avenue, the line ran down Napoleon, to Tchoupitoulas Street. Turntables on either end turned the streetcars around.
Electrification
The Napoleon Branch line electrified in 1893, along with the main Carrollton line. Napoleon was arguably the first electric streetcar line in the city. NO&CRR installed their power station for the line in a building at Napoleon and Tchoupitoulas. That building still stands, across the street from Tipitina’s. So, to power the St. Charles line, the company ran wires up Napoleon Avenue. That means the electric cars operated on the branch first!
Once the lines operated with electric cars, the company extended the Napoleon Branch to Canal Street.
Royal Blue
In 1903, a new player entered the streetcar game in New Orleans. The Orleans and Jefferson Railway announced the creation of the “Royal Blue Line,” operating from St. Charles and Napoleon, up to Metairie Road. They extended the line out Metairie Road to the 17th Street Canal, at the parish line. In 1915, the line, now operated by New Orleans Railway and Light Company (NORwy&Lt) opened the “Shrewsbury Extension” of the Royal Blue Line. The line ran all the way out to Severn Avenue and Airline Highway. In 1934, New Orleans Public Service, Incorporated (NOPSI) converted the Metairie Road segment to bus service.
In 1953, NOPSI converted the remaining Napoleon line to bus service. New Orleans Regional Transit Authority (NORTA) operates the line as Route 9, Broad/Napoleon.
Harmony Ice Cream was popular before World War II.
They screamed for Harmony Ice Cream!
Ice Cream! Harmony Ice Cream truck, parked on S. Carrollton Avenue, in the 1940s. Located in Central City, Harmony competed with Cloverland Dairy, which was located on S. Carrollton Avenue. Cloverland eventually merged into Sealtest. The plant was demolished, but the front facade was reserved for the US Post Office on that site now.
Ice Cream trucks weren’t new, but their range was limited. Older incarnations operated with ice rather than electric refrigeration. Commercial refrigeration had been around since the 1920s. Still, a/c didn’t come to retail stores until 1931. Krauss Department Store became the first department store on Canal Street to air-condition their customers. Naturally, Maison Blanche and D. H. Holmes followed suit quickly. It took a few more years for electric a/c to make it to motor vehicles, though. Naturally the dairies jumped on the opportunity to compete with restaurants and drugstore soda fountains. The products already existed. Polar Bars, Fudgesicles, Dreamsicles, Popsicles, and ice cream cups were available in the iceboxes of groceries and drugstores. Now, once Detroit started selling refrigerated trucks, dairies like Harmony traveled the streets, enticing kids playing in the neighborhoods during the summer. The trucks had sound systems that played simple jingles, announcing their arrival to the kids.
After World War II, Harmony merged with Russell’s Ice Cream. That merger expanded Russell’s reach. The post-war housing boom offered new neighborhoods for these ice cream trucks to patrol Additionally, Russell’s became well-known for their tricycles. They were essentially freezer chests on wheels. The rider pedaled the tricycle into areas like around Jackson Square. Fortunately for the dairy, these treats were popular. The riders usually sold out before the ice in their mobile freezer chest ran down.
What’s your favorite ice cream on a stick treat?
Four Ways to Support NOLA History Guy
Buy my books! Edward Branley is the author of six books on New Orleans history. They’re available from local booksellers and all the usual online suspects.
Buy me a coffee on Ko-fi dot com. I just love this concept as a way to say thank you/tip creators you enjoy. Our idea of monetization is buying books and having us come to speak. If you see me at a coffee shop, stop and say hi. Otherwise, I’ll raise coffee cup to you if you treat me.
Become a patron. Yes, we’re on Patreon. A lot of creators use the platform for direct monetization, and that’s great for them. We don’t have “exclusive content” for patrons. Still, if you think our history stuff is worth a dollar a month, go join!
In Podcast 50 we discuss the other double-truck streetcars that ran in New Orleans.
Brill semi-convertible streetcar, 1916
“Other” Double-Truck Streetcars
Part 4 of our 4-part series on early electric streetcars in New Orleans presents the other double-truck models. This includes the Pullman Company, “1899” Americans, Brill Semi-convertibles, Barney & Smith, and Morris cars.
The St. Charles Street Railroad Company purchased Pullman double-trucks. They operated them on the Clio line, when that line crossed Canal. The line originated at the St. Charles Hotel and ran to the Pontchartrain Railroad terminal on Elysian Fields Avenue. Note this company is not the New Orleans and Carrollton Railroad Company that ran the Carrollton/St. Charles line.
“1899” Americans
The “1899” streetcars by American Car Company were operated by the New Orleans City Railroad Comany (NOCRR – second incarnation).
Blueprints
Brill Semi-Convertibles
Morris Cars, named for Master Mechanic E. J. Morris at the Canal Shops.
Buy my books! Edward Branley is the author of six books on New Orleans history. They’re available from local booksellers and all the usual online suspects.
Buy me a coffee on Ko-fi dot com. I just love this concept as a way to say thank you/tip creators you enjoy. Our idea of monetization is buying books and having us come to speak. If you see me at a coffee shop, stop and say hi. Otherwise, I’ll raise coffee cup to you if you treat me.
Become a patron. Yes, we’re on Patreon. A lot of creators use the platform for direct monetization, and that’s great for them. We don’t have “exclusive content” for patrons. Still, if you think our history stuff is worth a dollar a month, go join!
Podcast 47 is the first of a four-part series on early New Orleans street railways. We’re talking about streetcars that pre-date our iconic arch roof streetcars from 1923, and the red streetcars from 2004. Beginning with the origins of public transit with omnibuses to steam railroad lines, to mule-drawn streetcars, we present getting around before electrification.
The New Orleans and Carrollton Railroad (NO&CRR) launched the first street rail line, from Baronne Street to Carrollton in 1835. This was a steam-powered line. This 1830s illustration of the Carrollton Hotel shows the steam locomotive for the Carrollton line on the left.
As Uptown expanded, residents complained about the smoke and noise of the train. NO&CRR switched from steam railroad operations to mule-drawn streetcars in the 1840s. They used Stephenson Co. “bobtail” streetcars pulled by mules.
Downtown Bobtails
p
The New Orleans City Railrod Company (NOCRR) inaugurated the Canal and Esplanade lines in 1861. While trying other streetcar models, they quickly settled on the Stephenson bobtails as well.
Facilities
After switching from steam power to mule power, NO&CRR built a barn at St. Charles and Napoleon Avenues. This is the layout of that corner, via the Robinson Atlas of 1883.
Esplanade streetcar approaching the Esplanade barn, 1864
Esplanade Station, 1883
Four Ways to Support NOLA History Guy
Buy my books! Edward Branley is the author of six books on New Orleans history. They’re available from local booksellers and all the usual online suspects.
Buy me a coffee on Ko-fi dot com. I just love this concept as a way to say thank you/tip creators you enjoy. Our idea of monetization is buying books and having us come to speak. If you see me at a coffee shop, stop and say hi. Otherwise, I’ll raise coffee cup to you if you treat me.
Become a patron. Yes, we’re on Patreon. A lot of creators use the platform for direct monetization, and that’s great for them. We don’t have “exclusive content” for patrons. Still, if you think our history stuff is worth a dollar a month, go join!
The first Super Bowl held in New Orleans was Chiefs-Vikings.
Super Bowl IV, 1970
The Kansas City Chiefs came to New Orleans on January 11, 1970, as the champions of the American Football League, to play the National Football League champion Minnesota Vikings.
Maison Blanche Department Stores welcomed fans of both teams with a full-page ad in the Times-Picayune newspaper on Saturday, January 10, 1970: “To all you super-people…a super-welcome to New Orleans’ super-department store…” MB’s stores in 1970 were 901 Canal Street (since 1897), Clearview Shopping Center, Gentilly Woods, Airline, and Westside. The Carrollton store migrated to Airline by now, and Airline wouldn’t be long for the world with Clearview opening in 1969. The second “branch” store, on Frenchmen and Gentilly, migrated to Gentilly Woods Shopping Center. That store would in turn close in 1974, with the opening of The Plaza at Lake Forest shopping mall. Like the other large department stores, MB put out huge displays of New Orleans souvenirs and other local merchandise, tempting visitors to bring home a memory.
MB in the 70s
The store’s logo and branding reflects the late-1960s change to a modern, sans serif typeface. The all-lowercase format remained until the store’s acquisition by Dillard’s in the 1990s. The tagline, “Greatest Store South” continued on from the early 1900s.
Super Bowl IV was the first championship held in New Orleans. The first game was held in Pasadena, California, at the Rose Bowl. The second and third matches were held in Miami, in the Orange Bowl. Fourth was sweet, as the NFL chose the Sugar Bowl. New Orleanians never really called the stadium the “Sugar Bowl.” While the Rose Bowl and the Cotton Bowl are the names of the stadiums, The massive stadium in Uptown New Orleans was Tulane Stadium. It was theirs, after all. New Orleans fit the desires of the NFL, chief of which was someplace relatively warm and snow-free. There was always the chance of rain at Tulane Stadium, of course. That’s why the league insisted that New Orleans build a covered stadium when they awarded the city a franchise. That led to the construction of Da Dome, now branded as Caeser’s Superdome.
K&B Number 5 was the store at St. Charles and Broadway.
K&B Number 5
Ad in the Times-Picayune, 4-August-1928, announcing the opening of K&B Number 5, the store at St. Charles Avenue at Broadway. The ad features a drawing of the new store as well as the previous four locations.
From the ad:
You’re Welcome Today — and Every Day at K&B No. 5–and at every K&B Store! Today! Meet the folks who will be pleased to serve you. The K&B spirit of Service and the K&B standard of quality–ONLY THE BEST–which has been part and parcel of the success of this institution since 1905–the very beginning, dominates this store like it pervades each other K&B Store! We’ll be glad to see you and serve you today and every day thereafter!
The ad promoted Whitman’s candy, and a “Dandy Bag of Useful Miniatures” given to customers who made a fifty-sent purchase.
The store
Store number 5, St. Charles and Broadway
K&B Number 5 serviced the university district. While there were other, larger, stores in the chain, K&B was all about making it easy to pick up your prescriptions. The store included a soda fountain, featuring “Freshly made sandwiches of the best the market affords.”
Previous stores
Store No. 1, 732 Canal Street
Katz and Besthoff opened their first store at 732 Canal Street, across from the Touro Buildings. While this was a popular location (pick up things then jump on the streetcar to head home), Simon Shwartz of Maison Blanche presented a problem for K&B. When Shwartz opened the “new” MB Building, with its eight floors of office space, a lot of doctors of all specialties moved in. Shwartz opened a pharmacy in the building. The tenants could pick up the phone and a runner would bring prescriptions down to the pharmacy. The patient picked it up before they returned to Canal Street.
732 Canal Street, now a Foot Locker Store (via Google Maps)
The location is now a Foot Locker.
Store No. 2, 841 Canal Street (at Dauphine)
K&B responded by opening a store at 841 Canal, across Dauphine Street from MB. Additionally, K&B enabled patients to transfer their scrips to the stores further uptown. So, you could see the doc on Canal Street and maintain your prescriptions near the house.
Store no. 2, Canal and Dauphine Streets (streetcarmike.com photo)
The location later became the “Camera Center”
Store number 3, St. Charles and Louisiana Avenues
K&B opened their third store at St. Charles and Louisiana. The building in the illustration was later demolished to make way for a more-modern store.
NOPSI 926, heading inbound on the St. Charles Line, passes K&B store number 3 in the 1980s. (Streetcarmike.com photo)
The Louisiana Avenue store housed the chain’s photo-processing lab/operation on the second floor.
Store number 4, S. Carrollton Ave. and Oak St.
The fourth store extended the reach of K&B out to the Oak Street retail area. They opened a store at S. Carrollton Avenue and Oak Street. The building is Still There More, as a Canseco’s Market.
1905-1997
Chuck’s on the Avenue (Infrogmation photo)
Katz & Besthoff Drugstores operated from that first store in 1905 until 1997. The chain sold out to Rite-Aid at that time. The building remains, and is now a liquor store, Chuck’s on the Avenue.
We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it.
Recent Comments