October 3, 2007 1:24 PM

BY: PHOTO: THE HISTORIC NEW ORLEANS COLLECTION

Dear Julia and Poydras,
 When I was about 14 years old my older brother took me to see Zulu arrive for the Mardi Gras. This was around 1930. The barge he arrived on came up a body of water in what is now the Central Business District. I can’t for the life of me figure out where that could be. When I tell this to my children and grandchildren they laugh at me. Can you please tell me where that barge landed?
Lois Beyer
Houma

Zulu’s royal tugboat Claribel escorted the royal barge into town on the New Basin Canal and landed at the turning basin at South Rampart Street. The New Basin Canal ran, until the mid-1950s, from West End to the Central Business District, ending at South Rampart Street. Readers who are too young to remember the New Basin Canal can get an idea of its location by following Julia Street (the street, not me) and the Pontchartrain Expressway, both of which run along the old canal’s right-of-way. The place where you saw Zulu land in 1930 would be near the present-day intersection of Julia and South Rampart streets.

Paul Johnson, of 3821 Third St., ruled as Zulu for the 1930 Carnival season. Described in newspaper accounts as having been a rather corpulent ruler, the king had great difficulty debarking his royal barge, failing three times before an onlooker came to his aid with a painter’s ladder. With its ruler safely on dry land, the krewe was then able to proceed with its street parade.

Zulu arrives on the Claribel by way of the New Basin Canal, circa 1930.


Dear Julia and Poydras,
Years ago, in the 1930s when I was a child, I remember my aunts taking us on a boat ride across Lake Pontchartrain. It was a boat about the size of a ferryboat. We launched in Madisonville then returned to the south shore. Do you think Poydras might look into this and find where the boat embarked or was there such a boat?
Margaret B. Anderson
Slidell

Although there were several different excursion boats that once ran between New Orleans and the Northshore, I think it’s most likely you and your aunts rode the Susquehanna, a large vessel that was especially popular around 1930. Operated by the Lake Transit Company, the Susquehanna carried both pedestrians and vehicles between West End and the Northshore towns of Madisonville and Mandeville. The Susquehanna was considered to be an excursion boat, not a ferry, because it was intended for day trips to the country rather than commuter traffic. During the two-hour one-way trip, passengers could eat or dance while listening to live music. Excursion boats fell out of favor by the ‘30s, as bridges spanned the lake and personal automobiles became more affordable to the general public. Consequently, the musical entertainment some subsequent generations would come to associate with family trips to the Northshore was not live band music but rather, incessant a capella renditions of “99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall.” So much for progress.


Dear Julia and Poydras,
Since you are both named for streets, I thought you might have the expertise to answer my questions. I have an old wooden sign that has Freret & Lowerline painted on a panel below a half circle that says “ORC.” It measures about 48 inches by 25 inches. Poydras would love the colors – blue, black, red and yellow. The folks at that location now, Café Freret, couldn’t help with its history. Can you?
Bracie Brown
New Orleans

Bracie, you’ve touched a sensitive point. Poydras insists that we were not named after streets but that the streets were named after us. The fact that the streets were named long before either of us were born he credits to clairvoyance on the part of urban planners.

Despite the menacing acronym, your sign refers neither to a tough Tolkien-themed tavern nor a society for the appreciation of killer whales (orcas). Your placard most likely dates from the 1970s, when it was used to promote the Old River Café. Jack Friedman managed the eatery at 7329 Freret St., at the site of what was, in the late ‘30s, Matthew Kenney’s automotive repair shop and the Freret Service Station. By the early ‘80s, Beebo’s Deli and Grocery was operating at the location the Old River Café had previously occupied.


Dear Julia,
Hello there and hello Poydras!
I have two questions if you’ll indulge me.

When I was staying in Algiers with my grandparents, Herman and Margarie Schexnaildre, while in college in South Carolina during the summer of 1979, I would frequent an establishment in the French Quarter named La Boucherie. It was a two-storied place featuring a simple lounge downstairs while playing to a lavish crowd upstairs – if one could secure admission to the top floor. I cannot find it now and I wonder what happened to the speakeasy.

For about two years after I moved back to South Carolina, my visits to the Crescent City would be enticed by the lure of riding the streetcar 41 blocks out St. Charles Avenue to a beautiful home and bar named 4141. I was told it was also the street address. Is it still around and if not, what happened? I remember a huge oak L-shaped bar that extended all the way outside to the veranda.
Ron Hollier
West Columbia, S.C.

Ron, I have to feed Poydras. Two questions cost extra. Your bill is in the mail.

There have been no fewer than three businesses at 339 Chartres St. that have operated under the name La Boucherie. The current La Boucherie is a coffee shop and café that’s connected to the earlier bars and restaurants in name only.

In the late 1960s, Fred S. Harper operated La Boucherie, which a ‘69 city directory listing describes as “A typical French bar and restaurant in the heart of the French Quarter.” By late ‘78, city directories indicate the property at 339 Chartres St. had been vacated. Soon, another La Boucherie began operation at that location. Run by Gary Billing, this second La Boucherie appears to have been the one you visited during your college vacation.

As far as the rest of your pub-crawl down memory lane is concerned, the 4141 Lounge was a fairly short-lived watering hole dating from the mid 1980s. Since the late ‘80s, Cannon’s Restaurant has stood at that site. Although closed for a while in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Cannons has re-opened.


Dear Julia and Poydras,
My favorite red-haired “bird” (in the British slang version of the word) is Ann-Margret. Sorry, Poydras!

I seem to remember when Ann-Margret was in New Orleans during the early 1960s while filming the movie The Cincinnati Kid with Steve McQueen, there was some talk about her cutting an album with either Al Hirt or Pete Fountain. Did either one ever follow through cutting an album with her?
By the way, what color are Poydras’ feathers?
Shannon Battle
Metairie

Shannon, Poydras’s feathers are naturally green though he had some dyed purple and gold with hopes of one day being selected to be Rex. A spokesman for the Rex organization however, revealed that organization rules specifically prohibit parrots from serving as king though they’re allowed to perch on top of the Rex float during the parade.

Yes, your favorite bird did indeed cut an album with Al Hirt. Released in 1964, on the RCA Victor label (RCA Victor LSP-3690), the record is called Beauty and the Beard.

The 12 songs on the album are:
“Personality”
“Tain’t What You Do”
“Bill Bailey”
“My Baby Just Cares for Me”
“Everybody Loves My Baby (But My Baby Don’t Love Nobody But Me)”
“Little Boy (Little Girl)”
“Best Man”
“Ma (He’s Making Eyes at Me)”
“Mutual Admiration Society”
“Row, Row, Row”
“Baby, It’s Cold Outside”
“Just Because”

Beauty and the Beard was released on CD several years ago, through RCA Victor Imports. A re-mastered version is also available on Bluebird label in Japan.