Southeastern Architectural Archive at Tulane University

COLLECTION CONNECTION: Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps Collection Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps Collection https://digitallibrary.tulane.edu/islandora/object/tulane%3Asanborn Part of the Collection Connection video series pre...

A postcard of Rosa Park, New Orleans, postmarked July 11, 1906. Rosa Park is just off St. Charles Avenue. It was printed by the The Rotograph Company. A German corporation, it bought an American postcard company in 1904 in order to gain access to its images and more easily enter the US market. Most postcards before this time were printed in Germany because of its superior printing technology. While the production of postcards in the United States had been steadily growing (and the Rotograph Company itself was taken over by an American company in 1911), the importation of higher-quality German postcards ended once and for all with the start of World War I.

FRIDAY FROM THE ARCHIVES | Drawing of Lafitte’s Blacksmith Shop by Samuel Wilson, Jr. (Tulane Architecture ‘31)

What is now Lafitte’s Blacksmith Shop Bar is claimed to be the oldest structure used as a bar in the U.S. and is where the privateer Lafitte brothers’ Jean and Pierre kept their seized goods, transporting them through underground tunnels from the shop to the river.

In fact, exactly when this shop was constructed is unclear, but it does date to the Spanish Colonial period. The cottage was built for a carpenter, whose family owned the site from 1773 to 1833. There isn’t any concrete proof that ties the Lafitte brothers to the property. However, there is an 1813 city license issued to Pierre to operate a “Tuerie” or butchery on the corner of Bourbon and St. Philip streets. There is a strong case that the license refers to an earlier building nearby (today’s Lafitte Guest House). The building did not become a bar until the early 20th century, having first served as a residence, workshop and ice cream parlor.

Image: Samuel Wilson, Jr.
Born in New Orleans, Wilson graduated from Warren Easton High School at the age of 16 and entered Tulane School of Architecture in 1927. He started working for local architect Moise Goldstein while a student and continued to a full-time position after graduation. In 1955, Wilson became partner to Richard Koch, and they established the firm Richard Koch and Samuel Wilson, Jr. Wilson rehabilitated some of the city’s most significant historic buildings, including the Cabildo, the Pontalba apartments, Ursuline Convent, and the Pitot House. He advocated for the preservation of other sites, including the mid-century modern Rivergate convention center.

Attribution: 1) Samuel Wilson Jr. Papers, Southeastern Architectural Archive, Howard-Tilton Memorial Library, Tulane. 2) Preservation Timeline, . 3) Preservation Resource Center of New Orleans.

COLLECTION CONNECTION: Carnival Collection Carnival Collection https://digitallibrary.tulane.edu/islandora/object/tulane%3Ap15140coll40 Part of the Collection Connection video series presented by Tula...

This is the banner car (the float the presented the title of the parade) of the 1899 Proteus parade. The theme that year was “E Pluribus Unum.”

LaRC preserves more than 5,600 original float and costume designs and has put them all online. Click here to view the original float and costume designs for the rest of the 1899 Proteus parade.

https://digitallibrary.tulane.edu/islandora/search/pluribus?type=dismax