A Romanticized Postcard from 1947

Before the world turned Creole New Orleans into a cajun myth, people came here for the Creole mystique.  This postcard of the Old Absinthe House postmarked 1947 shows that the city's main selling point was history.  New Orleans was a living museum then. (It still is, actually.)

The St. Charles Hotel

The St. Charles Hotel was the Americans answer to the Creole's St. Louis Hotel.

Here is a fascinating and well-written history.

Old Absinthe House, 1908

Despite Lafitte's Blacksmith's Shop's claim to being the oldest bar in the United States, The Old Absinthe House actually predates it.  In the 1880's they had an annex in Jackson Square - Click here for a view of their branch location.