{"product_id":"canal-street-new-orleans-1907","title":"Canal Street at Godchaux's, New Orleans, 1907","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe year is not a guess. It is printed into the negative itself, in a Detroit Publishing Company copyright cartouche in the lower left corner, beside the caption CANAL ST., NEW ORLEANS, LA. and the plate number 019937. The camera stands low and centered in the roadway of Canal Street, looking away from the Mississippi. Four sets of streetcar rail run toward the vanishing point, span wires cross the whole width of the street overhead, and three electric cars wait abreast in the middle ground with their trolley poles raised to the wire.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe street is full of people, and the plate holds them at glass negative resolution. A man in a three-piece suit and bowler stands alone in the foreground with his hands behind his back, looking toward the camera. About ten more men, most of them in bowlers, stand in the track between the cars, with a boy in a light jacket at the edge of the group. A woman in a long dark skirt crosses at the left. A one-horse dray waits at the corner while its driver stands at the horse's head. Every man in the frame wears a coat, and the shadows are short and hard, which suggests a cool, bright day rather than a New Orleans summer.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe three roof boards are the most precise dating evidence in the picture after the cartouche. They read ST. CHARLES BELT, PRYTANIA and ANNUNCIATION. The Prytania line ran through Canal Street and had been electrified in 1894, carrying uptown residents down from the Garden District to shop.\u003csup class=\"pic-ref\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"#src-6\"\u003e6\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/sup\u003e The St. Charles and Tulane lines had run together as a belt service only since 1900.\u003csup class=\"pic-ref\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"#src-7\"\u003e7\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/sup\u003e The Annunciation line was one of the city's older names, and its cars still worked Canal Street beside the newer belts. All three names appear on the same stretch of neutral ground in this frame, and only for a narrow span of years.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cfigure class=\"pic-print__detail\"\u003e\u003cimg src=\"https:\/\/res.cloudinary.com\/dz7q7hk2q\/image\/upload\/f_auto,q_auto,c_limit,w_1060\/pastincolor\/details\/godchaux-trams.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/res.cloudinary.com\/dz7q7hk2q\/image\/upload\/f_auto,q_auto,c_limit,w_420\/pastincolor\/details\/godchaux-trams.jpg 420w, https:\/\/res.cloudinary.com\/dz7q7hk2q\/image\/upload\/f_auto,q_auto,c_limit,w_640\/pastincolor\/details\/godchaux-trams.jpg 640w, https:\/\/res.cloudinary.com\/dz7q7hk2q\/image\/upload\/f_auto,q_auto,c_limit,w_840\/pastincolor\/details\/godchaux-trams.jpg 840w, https:\/\/res.cloudinary.com\/dz7q7hk2q\/image\/upload\/f_auto,q_auto,c_limit,w_1060\/pastincolor\/details\/godchaux-trams.jpg 1060w, https:\/\/res.cloudinary.com\/dz7q7hk2q\/image\/upload\/f_auto,q_auto,c_limit,w_1400\/pastincolor\/details\/godchaux-trams.jpg 1400w, https:\/\/res.cloudinary.com\/dz7q7hk2q\/image\/upload\/f_auto,q_auto,c_limit,w_1800\/pastincolor\/details\/godchaux-trams.jpg 1800w, https:\/\/res.cloudinary.com\/dz7q7hk2q\/image\/upload\/f_auto,q_auto,c_limit,w_2120\/pastincolor\/details\/godchaux-trams.jpg 2120w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 1100px) 1060px, (min-width: 750px) calc(100vw - 40px), calc(100vw - 56px)\" width=\"1060\" height=\"446\" alt=\"Detail from the plate: three electric streetcars abreast, roof boards reading St. Charles Belt, Prytania and Annunciation\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\"\u003e\u003cfigcaption\u003eSt. Charles Belt car 181, a Prytania car marked SPECIAL, and Annunciation car 04, abreast on the neutral ground.\u003c\/figcaption\u003e\u003c\/figure\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe car on the left can be identified. Its dash carries the number 181 twice, beside the headlight, under the ST. CHARLES BELT roof board. The surviving photographic record places car 181 on the St. Charles Belt, in a group of seventy cars numbered 160 to 229 that the American Car Company built in St. Louis in 1899 for the New Orleans and Carrollton Railroad, to a single-truck design drawn for New Orleans by the engineering firm Ford, Bacon and Davis.\u003csup class=\"pic-ref\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"#src-4\"\u003e4\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/sup\u003e\u003csup class=\"pic-ref\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"#src-5\"\u003e5\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/sup\u003e A streetcar in a street photograph is usually anonymous. This one has a number, a builder, a birthplace, and a year.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cfigure class=\"pic-print__detail pic-print__detail--narrow\"\u003e\u003cimg src=\"https:\/\/res.cloudinary.com\/dz7q7hk2q\/image\/upload\/f_auto,q_auto,c_limit,w_420\/pastincolor\/details\/godchaux-car181.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/res.cloudinary.com\/dz7q7hk2q\/image\/upload\/f_auto,q_auto,c_limit,w_280\/pastincolor\/details\/godchaux-car181.jpg 280w, https:\/\/res.cloudinary.com\/dz7q7hk2q\/image\/upload\/f_auto,q_auto,c_limit,w_420\/pastincolor\/details\/godchaux-car181.jpg 420w, https:\/\/res.cloudinary.com\/dz7q7hk2q\/image\/upload\/f_auto,q_auto,c_limit,w_560\/pastincolor\/details\/godchaux-car181.jpg 560w, https:\/\/res.cloudinary.com\/dz7q7hk2q\/image\/upload\/f_auto,q_auto,c_limit,w_670\/pastincolor\/details\/godchaux-car181.jpg 670w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 476px) 420px, calc(100vw - 56px)\" width=\"420\" height=\"419\" alt=\"Detail from the plate: the dash of streetcar 181, the number painted twice beside the headlight\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\"\u003e\u003cfigcaption\u003eThe dash of car 181. The number places it among the seventy cars built in St. Louis in 1899.\u003c\/figcaption\u003e\u003c\/figure\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe three cars are not three of a kind. By 1907 the fleet held several generations at once. The Prytania line's early electric cars were small Brills with mahogany interiors and rattan seats, though larger St. Louis-built Palace cars also ran under Prytania signs in these years, and the Annunciation line's first Brills had been replaced by Ford, Bacon and Davis cars in the late 1890s.\u003csup class=\"pic-ref\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"#src-4\"\u003e4\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/sup\u003e\u003csup class=\"pic-ref\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"#src-6\"\u003e6\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/sup\u003e What stands abreast in this frame is the system's recent history, side by side on one stretch of neutral ground.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOn the right, under a large ribbed metal canopy with the family name lettered across it, is Godchaux's. Leon Godchaux was a Jewish immigrant from Alsace-Lorraine who began as a river peddler carrying needles, thread and dry goods, opened a Canal Street store, and turned its profits into sugar plantations and mills.\u003csup class=\"pic-ref\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"#src-3\"\u003e3\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/sup\u003e He founded his clothing business in the 1840s,\u003csup class=\"pic-ref\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"#src-8\"\u003e8\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/sup\u003e and the fortune it built ran to a sugar operation of fourteen plantations at its height.\u003csup class=\"pic-ref\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"#src-9\"\u003e9\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/sup\u003e He died in 1899, so this photograph shows the store eight years into its life without him.\u003csup class=\"pic-ref\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"#src-12\"\u003e12\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/sup\u003e The building in the frame was put up in 1892 by his descendants, who also widened the merchandise into women's clothing and household goods; the Historic New Orleans Collection records the address as 527 to 537 Canal Street.\u003csup class=\"pic-ref\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"#src-2\"\u003e2\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/sup\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAround it, the block is a full commercial street rather than a single landmark. Signs legible on the plate include a cut-rate drugstore, a bookseller, an engraver and an outfitter, while the office windows opposite advertise attorneys, a coal merchant and a life insurance agency. This was the retail spine of the city. Canal Street's dry goods houses and clothiers had grown into department stores selling fabrics, hosiery, accessories, stationery, household furnishings and bric-a-brac, and by this period the Historic New Orleans Collection describes D. H. Holmes, further along the street, as the largest department store in the South.\u003csup class=\"pic-ref\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"#src-3\"\u003e3\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/sup\u003e The streetcars in the foreground are what delivered the customers.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cfigure class=\"pic-quote\"\u003e\u003cblockquote\u003e\u003cp\u003eCanal street, with the Clubs, Shops and Confectioners, is the dividing line between the old French and the new American parts of the city.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/blockquote\u003e\n\u003cfigcaption\u003eJames S. Zacharie, New Orleans Guide, 1902\u003csup class=\"pic-ref\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"#src-13\"\u003e13\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/sup\u003e\u003c\/figcaption\u003e\u003c\/figure\u003e\u003cp\u003eBeneath the paving there was another New Orleans being built, and it does not appear in the photograph at all. The city sits low, and its future depended on drainage. A drainage commission had been created in 1896 and the Sewerage and Water Board in 1899.\u003csup class=\"pic-ref\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"#src-11\"\u003e11\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/sup\u003e Sewer construction began in 1903, and the pumping stations were ready in 1906.\u003csup class=\"pic-ref\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"#src-11\"\u003e11\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/sup\u003e On the day this plate was exposed, the system was largely built and not yet fully in service; it entered full operation in February 1909.\u003csup class=\"pic-ref\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"#src-11\"\u003e11\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/sup\u003e Two cities sit in the same view. One is visible, made of canopies, rails and bowler hats. The other is buried, made of pipes and pumps, and it would decide how far the first one could grow.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe people in the track could not know how little time some of it had. The store behind them had less time on this corner than it looked. In 1923 Leon Godchaux Jr. agreed to move it up the street to 828 Canal, where it stayed until it closed in 1986.\u003csup class=\"pic-ref\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"#src-12\"\u003e12\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/sup\u003e The corner in this frame is the store's original downtown home.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThat an ordinary day here was preserved at all is an accident of commerce. The Detroit Publishing Company photographed the street for the postcard trade, and its stock views outlived the trade that paid for them.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe plate is a Detroit Publishing Company glass negative held by the Library of Congress, and every detail you see is the original photograph.\u003csup class=\"pic-ref\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"#src-1\"\u003e1\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/sup\u003e Only the color is new. It is restored using modern professional digital techniques and transferred onto the original scan, so nothing is redrawn, sharpened, or invented. Our master is an uncropped scan, complete with the plate edge and the caption band.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePrints are available as premium luster posters, on canvas, and framed. Each is made to order, produced close to where it ships, and sent with tracking. Shipping is free in the United States and the European Union. The edition is small, the size is stated on this page, and it will not be reprinted. Questions are welcome at support@pastincolor.com.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eSources\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003col class=\"pic-sources\"\u003e\n\u003cli id=\"src-1\"\u003eLibrary of Congress, Prints and Photographs Online Catalog, \"Canal St., New Orleans, La.\", \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/www.loc.gov\/pictures\/item\/2016795057\/\"\u003ehttps:\/\/www.loc.gov\/pictures\/item\/2016795057\/\u003c\/a\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli id=\"src-2\"\u003eThe Historic New Orleans Collection, \"Godchaux's\", \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/vop.omeka.net\/exhibits\/show\/goods-of-every-description\/department-stores\/godchauxs\"\u003ehttps:\/\/vop.omeka.net\/exhibits\/show\/goods-of-every-description\/department-stores\/godchauxs\u003c\/a\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli id=\"src-3\"\u003eThe Historic New Orleans Collection, \"Department Stores\", \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/hnoc.org\/virtual-exhibitions\/goods-every-description\/department-stores\"\u003ehttps:\/\/hnoc.org\/virtual-exhibitions\/goods-every-description\/department-stores\u003c\/a\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli id=\"src-4\"\u003eH. George Friedman Jr., \"The Streetcars of New Orleans\" research archive, Appendix III, \u003ca href=\"http:\/\/friedman.cs.illinois.edu\/app3\/Page__c5.htm\"\u003ehttp:\/\/friedman.cs.illinois.edu\/app3\/Page__c5.htm\u003c\/a\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli id=\"src-5\"\u003eMidcontinent Railway Museum, \"American Car Company\", \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/www.midcontinent.org\/rollingstock\/builders\/american_carco.htm\"\u003ehttps:\/\/www.midcontinent.org\/rollingstock\/builders\/american_carco.htm\u003c\/a\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli id=\"src-6\"\u003eNew Orleans Historical, \"Prytania Streetcar Line\", \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/neworleanshistorical.org\/items\/show\/540\"\u003ehttps:\/\/neworleanshistorical.org\/items\/show\/540\u003c\/a\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli id=\"src-7\"\u003eH. George Friedman Jr., \"New Orleans Streetcar Album,\" University of Illinois, \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/friedman.cs.illinois.edu\/album\/Album.htm\"\u003ehttps:\/\/friedman.cs.illinois.edu\/album\/Album.htm\u003c\/a\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli id=\"src-8\"\u003e64 Parishes, \"Shopping Crossroads,\" Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities, \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/64parishes.org\/shopping-crossroads\"\u003ehttps:\/\/64parishes.org\/shopping-crossroads\u003c\/a\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli id=\"src-9\"\u003eFriends of the Cabildo, \"Researching the Sugar King of New Orleans,\" \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/friendsofthecabildo.org\/researching-the-sugar-king-of-new-orleans\/\"\u003ehttps:\/\/friendsofthecabildo.org\/researching-the-sugar-king-of-new-orleans\/\u003c\/a\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli id=\"src-10\"\u003eScott P. Marler, The Merchants' Capital (Cambridge University Press), \"Rural Merchants on the Cotton Frontier,\" \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/www.cambridge.org\/core\/books\/merchants-capital\/rural-merchants-on-the-cotton-frontier\"\u003ehttps:\/\/www.cambridge.org\/core\/books\/merchants-capital\/rural-merchants-on-the-cotton-frontier\u003c\/a\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli id=\"src-11\"\u003eW. B. Behrman, \"Brief History of Sewerage, Water and Drainage in New Orleans\", \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/penelope.uchicago.edu\/Thayer\/E\/Gazetteer\/Places\/America\/United_States\/Louisiana\/New_Orleans\/_Texts\/Behrman*.html\"\u003ehttps:\/\/penelope.uchicago.edu\/Thayer\/E\/Gazetteer\/Places\/America\/United_States\/Louisiana\/New_Orleans\/_Texts\/Behrman*.html\u003c\/a\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli id=\"src-12\"\u003eThe Times-Picayune archive via nola.com, \"From early horrors to present day: The 121-year history of a Canal Street landmark\", \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/www.nola.com\/entertainment_life\/from-early-horrors-to-present-day-the-121-year-history-of-a-canal-street-landmark\/article_dd32ca64-6427-11ed-ac3a-d3b105315c42.html\"\u003ehttps:\/\/www.nola.com\/entertainment_life\/from-early-horrors-to-present-day-the-121-year-history-of-a-canal-street-landmark\/article_dd32ca64-6427-11ed-ac3a-d3b105315c42.html\u003c\/a\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli id=\"src-13\"\u003eJames S. Zacharie, New Orleans Guide, 1902 edition, digitized by the Louisiana Anthology, \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/louisiana-anthology.org\/303_download\/texts\/zacharie--new_orleans_guide\/zacharie--neworleansguidew00zach.pdf\"\u003ehttps:\/\/louisiana-anthology.org\/303_download\/texts\/zacharie--new_orleans_guide\/zacharie--neworleansguidew00zach.pdf\u003c\/a\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ol\u003e","brand":"Past in Color","offers":[{"title":"Luster poster \/ 8 x 10 in","offer_id":58385426284927,"sku":null,"price":90.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":false},{"title":"Luster poster \/ 16 x 20 in","offer_id":58385426317695,"sku":null,"price":115.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":false},{"title":"Canvas \/ 16 x 20 in","offer_id":58385426350463,"sku":null,"price":235.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":false},{"title":"Framed \/ 16 x 20 in","offer_id":58385426383231,"sku":null,"price":340.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1029\/2802\/3935\/files\/canal-street-godchaux.jpg?v=1788844256","url":"https:\/\/pastincolor.com\/products\/canal-street-new-orleans-1907","provider":"Past in Color","version":"1.0","type":"link"}