NEW ORLEANS WEIRD THINGS TO SEE AND DO
Headin' on down to the love seat: Edward VII’s Siège D’amour
PLace oddities: new orleans' weird artifacts
By Paul Oswell
New Orleans doesn't need corporately-mandated slogans like the desperate-sounding PLEASE BELIEVE WE HAVE SOME ACTUAL CHARACTER ‘Keep Austin Weird’. It just IS strange here. It’s an organic, free-range weirdness that permeates the streets and events (the hilariously petty Bubble Day festival last week is a good example). Here are a few random and odd local artifacts that sometimes dip under the radar - especially for tourists and even for locals.
Bayou St. John Music Tree
A tree that likely stood tall as the French started to move in some 300 years ago retained its ground for many a hurricane, until being blasted by lightning in 2012. Given its provenance, it seemed fitting that creative chainsaw-wielder Marlin Miller was let loose on the remains to give it a new lease of life as a work of art. Miller had a vision of snakes, a fleur de lis, eagles, guitars, pianos and pelicans, and set about carving them into the living wood.
Edward VII’s Siège D’amour “Love Chair”
The eldest son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, Edward VII’s was well known for his risqué exploits. In 1890, he commissioned renowned Parisian cabinetmaker Louis Soubrier to craft this “siege d’amour” or “seat of love”, which was kept at the prince’s favorite bordello for his regular use. It allowed him to, er, enjoy his time with two companions at once. It went on sale at local antiques dealer MS Rau last year, and we couldn’t find an update on a sale, so it’s likely still on the premises.
The cottages where Antoine Peychaud perfected his bitters recipe and Tennessee Williams wrote (or at least completed), ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’.
The Maison de Ville Hotel at 727 Toulouse Street has hosted many celebrities. It was a regular temporary home for the actress Liz Taylor, who would buy the place out and have her staff stationed to stop any unwanted visitors while she was ‘entertaining company’. One of them asked to who they should deny access: “What about your husband?” “Especially my husband!” came the reply. Long before this, though, the cottages out back (some of the oldest in the French Quarter) housed one Antoine Peychaud, a local chemist who was working on a health tonic that now graces many of our city’s cocktails as Peychaud’s Bitters (his actual pharmacy was around the corner). Just as it began its hotel life, the address was also regularly home to Tennessee Williams, and he reportedly finished his most famous work in Room 9.
Obscure, original Jazz artifacts
There’s been a structure at 911 Burgundy Street since at least 1830, and it’s been a hotel of some sort since the late 1960s. Probably the most interesting part of the building’s past, though, is the fact that the back buildings housed the country’s first jazz museum, which operated there from 1961 into the 1980s. Although many of the exhibits from there - including Louis Armstrong’s first coronet - have been moved to the Jazz Museum at The Old Mint building, there’s still a smattering of instruments, records and memorabilia from the early days of jazz right here in the lobby.
The interior of a historic brothel
The new(ish) Storyville Museum (reviewed here for this very publication) does a wonderful job of recreating the ambience, sights and history of the time when the city had its own legal Red Light District. There are many articles and books written about Storyville for the curious, but before the museum opened, there was May Bailey’s. This is essentially a bar tacked onto the Dauphine Orleans hotel at 415 Dauphine Street, but look closer, and you’ll see the walls that have certificates of operation and various ephemera of a working bordello from that time. Sad to say that May Bailey never existed, and the relics are just facsimiles, but most visitors prefer the legend and who are we to judge?
Nick Cage’s Pyramid Tomb
Eccentric actor and perennial meme Nicholas Cage actually owns two plots (and why not?) in the city's beloved St. Louis Cemetery No. 1. He famously also owned property - the LaLaurie Mansion and the historic Our Lady of Perpetual Help Chapel - but they have since been sold to help out with his tax snafus. Anyway, the most interesting of the two plots is a stark white, nine-foot tall pyramid that does not have the Cage name emblazoned upon it, but just the Latin motto "Omnia Ab Uno", which translates to "Everything From One". Is it a nod to the illuminati or simply the movie National Treasure? Likely just some run of the mill Cage flamboyance, but it’s a notable landmark, alright.
Napoleon’s Death Mask
In 1819, a high-society merchant, David Urquhart, built a grand house (it would become the now defunct Astor Hotel). It would eventually become the property of one Dr. François Antommarchi, a renowned physician who personally attended to Napoleon. When Dr. Antommarchi arrived in New Orleans in 1834, he was received with some celebration, having been closely associated with the heroic Bonaparte. He was serenaded, toasted, and generally celebrated, and he soon moved into this prestigious residence on Royal Street. Antommarchi brought with a great treasure in the form of one of only four casts of Napoleon’s death mask, having attended to the exiled warrior on Saint Helena, even recording his death in 1821. The good doctor donated the mask to the city. The transfer (which took place on November 23, 1834) was an elaborate affair, with a procession of city elders and statesmen marching to the house accompanied by a legion of soldiers, who gave a 101-gun salute as the mask was handed over. Anyone can see the mask to this day without any pomp or ceremony, as it is on display in the Cabildo museum.
A piano beloved by Stevie Wonder
If you love tickling the ivories, or even just bashing out Chopsticks, you can do so on a piano that has regularly been played, and is reportedly beloved, by one Stevie Wonder. Now, you do have to spend some money to be able to do this as the instrument in question resides in a suite at The Pontchartrain Hotel. But if you want to splash out and spend a night there, the piano is yours to enjoy, at least until your hotel neighbors start bagning on the walls.
Napoleon’s Bathtub
Another strange item that you have to buy a night in a hotel room to see. Le Pavillon Hotel (along with the Roosevelt and the Monteleone) is one of the three longest-operating hotels in the city. It boasts a wealth of antiques and art, but on the seventh floor, the Napoleon Suite beckons guests back in time. If you stay there, you too can take a dip in one of Napoleon Bonaparte's actual Carrera marble bathtubs, decorated with intricate stained glass. There are only three or four reputed to exist in the entire world, but here, you too can sit in a tub and plot world domination.
The Deduct Box
As just noted, the Roosevelt Hotel has a long and storied history, and in its heyday, it was one of the favored properties of The Kingfish himself, Huey P Long. Now, Mr. Long was known to collect campaign funds in creative ways, not least by rounding up cold hard cash from people and keeping it on his person. The donation box became known as the ‘Deduct Box’ - i.e. where Long kept “deducts” from state employee salaries to fund his political operations. He had hidden the box, containing over $1 million, at the time of his assassination. As Huey Long lay on his deathbed, his consigliere Seymour Weiss asked him where it was exactly. “I’ll tell you later, Seymour,” said Long, before promptly dying. The box has never been found...so keep your eyes peeled the next time you’re admiring the Christmas lights in the Roosevelt foyer.
New Orleans doesn't need corporately-mandated slogans like the desperate-sounding PLEASE BELIEVE WE HAVE SOME ACTUAL CHARACTER ‘Keep Austin Weird’. It just IS strange here. It’s an organic, free-range weirdness that permeates the streets and events (the hilariously petty Bubble Day festival last week is a good example). Here are a few random and odd local artifacts that sometimes dip under the radar - especially for tourists and even for locals.
Bayou St. John Music Tree
A tree that likely stood tall as the French started to move in some 300 years ago retained its ground for many a hurricane, until being blasted by lightning in 2012. Given its provenance, it seemed fitting that creative chainsaw-wielder Marlin Miller was let loose on the remains to give it a new lease of life as a work of art. Miller had a vision of snakes, a fleur de lis, eagles, guitars, pianos and pelicans, and set about carving them into the living wood.
Edward VII’s Siège D’amour “Love Chair”
The eldest son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, Edward VII’s was well known for his risqué exploits. In 1890, he commissioned renowned Parisian cabinetmaker Louis Soubrier to craft this “siege d’amour” or “seat of love”, which was kept at the prince’s favorite bordello for his regular use. It allowed him to, er, enjoy his time with two companions at once. It went on sale at local antiques dealer MS Rau last year, and we couldn’t find an update on a sale, so it’s likely still on the premises.
The cottages where Antoine Peychaud perfected his bitters recipe and Tennessee Williams wrote (or at least completed), ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’.
The Maison de Ville Hotel at 727 Toulouse Street has hosted many celebrities. It was a regular temporary home for the actress Liz Taylor, who would buy the place out and have her staff stationed to stop any unwanted visitors while she was ‘entertaining company’. One of them asked to who they should deny access: “What about your husband?” “Especially my husband!” came the reply. Long before this, though, the cottages out back (some of the oldest in the French Quarter) housed one Antoine Peychaud, a local chemist who was working on a health tonic that now graces many of our city’s cocktails as Peychaud’s Bitters (his actual pharmacy was around the corner). Just as it began its hotel life, the address was also regularly home to Tennessee Williams, and he reportedly finished his most famous work in Room 9.
Obscure, original Jazz artifacts
There’s been a structure at 911 Burgundy Street since at least 1830, and it’s been a hotel of some sort since the late 1960s. Probably the most interesting part of the building’s past, though, is the fact that the back buildings housed the country’s first jazz museum, which operated there from 1961 into the 1980s. Although many of the exhibits from there - including Louis Armstrong’s first coronet - have been moved to the Jazz Museum at The Old Mint building, there’s still a smattering of instruments, records and memorabilia from the early days of jazz right here in the lobby.
The interior of a historic brothel
The new(ish) Storyville Museum (reviewed here for this very publication) does a wonderful job of recreating the ambience, sights and history of the time when the city had its own legal Red Light District. There are many articles and books written about Storyville for the curious, but before the museum opened, there was May Bailey’s. This is essentially a bar tacked onto the Dauphine Orleans hotel at 415 Dauphine Street, but look closer, and you’ll see the walls that have certificates of operation and various ephemera of a working bordello from that time. Sad to say that May Bailey never existed, and the relics are just facsimiles, but most visitors prefer the legend and who are we to judge?
Nick Cage’s Pyramid Tomb
Eccentric actor and perennial meme Nicholas Cage actually owns two plots (and why not?) in the city's beloved St. Louis Cemetery No. 1. He famously also owned property - the LaLaurie Mansion and the historic Our Lady of Perpetual Help Chapel - but they have since been sold to help out with his tax snafus. Anyway, the most interesting of the two plots is a stark white, nine-foot tall pyramid that does not have the Cage name emblazoned upon it, but just the Latin motto "Omnia Ab Uno", which translates to "Everything From One". Is it a nod to the illuminati or simply the movie National Treasure? Likely just some run of the mill Cage flamboyance, but it’s a notable landmark, alright.
Napoleon’s Death Mask
In 1819, a high-society merchant, David Urquhart, built a grand house (it would become the now defunct Astor Hotel). It would eventually become the property of one Dr. François Antommarchi, a renowned physician who personally attended to Napoleon. When Dr. Antommarchi arrived in New Orleans in 1834, he was received with some celebration, having been closely associated with the heroic Bonaparte. He was serenaded, toasted, and generally celebrated, and he soon moved into this prestigious residence on Royal Street. Antommarchi brought with a great treasure in the form of one of only four casts of Napoleon’s death mask, having attended to the exiled warrior on Saint Helena, even recording his death in 1821. The good doctor donated the mask to the city. The transfer (which took place on November 23, 1834) was an elaborate affair, with a procession of city elders and statesmen marching to the house accompanied by a legion of soldiers, who gave a 101-gun salute as the mask was handed over. Anyone can see the mask to this day without any pomp or ceremony, as it is on display in the Cabildo museum.
A piano beloved by Stevie Wonder
If you love tickling the ivories, or even just bashing out Chopsticks, you can do so on a piano that has regularly been played, and is reportedly beloved, by one Stevie Wonder. Now, you do have to spend some money to be able to do this as the instrument in question resides in a suite at The Pontchartrain Hotel. But if you want to splash out and spend a night there, the piano is yours to enjoy, at least until your hotel neighbors start bagning on the walls.
Napoleon’s Bathtub
Another strange item that you have to buy a night in a hotel room to see. Le Pavillon Hotel (along with the Roosevelt and the Monteleone) is one of the three longest-operating hotels in the city. It boasts a wealth of antiques and art, but on the seventh floor, the Napoleon Suite beckons guests back in time. If you stay there, you too can take a dip in one of Napoleon Bonaparte's actual Carrera marble bathtubs, decorated with intricate stained glass. There are only three or four reputed to exist in the entire world, but here, you too can sit in a tub and plot world domination.
The Deduct Box
As just noted, the Roosevelt Hotel has a long and storied history, and in its heyday, it was one of the favored properties of The Kingfish himself, Huey P Long. Now, Mr. Long was known to collect campaign funds in creative ways, not least by rounding up cold hard cash from people and keeping it on his person. The donation box became known as the ‘Deduct Box’ - i.e. where Long kept “deducts” from state employee salaries to fund his political operations. He had hidden the box, containing over $1 million, at the time of his assassination. As Huey Long lay on his deathbed, his consigliere Seymour Weiss asked him where it was exactly. “I’ll tell you later, Seymour,” said Long, before promptly dying. The box has never been found...so keep your eyes peeled the next time you’re admiring the Christmas lights in the Roosevelt foyer.