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Lucky Dog carts have been fixtures in the French Quarter since the mid-1940s and are the subject of this biography by ex- Lucky Dog vendor and manager Jerry Strahan.
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Hey Blake,
What do you know about the history of Lucky Dogs, the hot dog stands in the Quarter? Second, we are searching for archives of your articles, please help. Third, keep up the good work.
Carol Meche
Dear Carol,
I will answer your kind letter in reverse order. First, you call this work? Writing about our city is not work; it's fun! And it is always a pleasure hearing from wonderful readers like you.
Second, if you really want to find the Blake Pontchartrain archives, they can be found on the Internet at www.bestofneworleans.com/dispatch/columns/blake.html. The columns are on the Net dating back to March 6, 2001. However, if you want to go back further than that, try the third floor of the New Orleans Public Library at Tulane and Loyola avenues.
Now for the really important question -- the story behind the company that hired Ignatius J. Reilly. Of course, in A Confederacy of Dunces, it was Paradise Vendors Inc.
It was not long after World War II that brothers Stephen and Erasmus Loyacano first wheeled their unique vending carts out onto the streets of the Crescent City. By 1949, the brothers decided to market the popular invention. They attended a national convention, and when hundreds of delegates asked for information, the brothers decided to forget about sales and go into leasing or franchising. An advertisement touted the potential for investors: "Cruise the midway. Get around town. You and Lucky Dog follow the crowd." "A red hot steam job that will roll up profits everywhere you go." "Steam cooks 100 dogs, buns, and chili. Stores everything for 300 more." "A fleet of eight carts now successfully operating in New Orleans." But like many entrepreneurs, they encountered problems, and by 1952 gave up on the franchising idea. In fact, after 23 years of steaming wienies and buns, the Loyacanos sold the business.
The new owners were Doug Talbot and Peter Briant, who purchased Lucky Dogs Novelty Carts Inc. in 1970. Its original location was 1304 St. Charles Ave. Can you imagine pushing a fully loaded 7-foot-long hot dog cart from there to the French Quarter!
Before the company was put up for sale, new health restrictions prevented it from steaming its dogs and buns right in the special carts. Instead, they had to sell a precooked and prepackaged product. You don't want to know how these tasted.
This new requirement was a factor in the sale of the company and almost caused it to fail entirely. But the board of health finally agreed to a sneeze guard and a fancy hand-washing system, the company went back to its old way of cooking, and Fortuna smiled on Lucky Dogs.
Since then, Lucky Dogs Inc. has become a New Orleans tradition and achieved international fame. And in 1998, New Orleanian Jerry Strahan wrote a wonderfully funny book about his years of experience as Lucky dog vendor and manager entitled Managing Ignatius: The Lunacy of Lucky Dogs and Life in the Quarter. You'll love it!
Hey Blake,
I'm doing research on New Orleans streets, and I can't seem to find where the names for Decatur and Antonine streets came from.
Leo
Dear Leo,
Street names come and go here in the Big Easy, and one that has been around for about 200 years is Antonine. It was named by Marie Antonine Foucher Delachaise, widow of Auguste Delachaise and granddaughter of Etienne Bore. She subdivided the family-owned Faubourg Delachaise and got the right to name four streets: Delachaise for her husband, Aline for her daughter, and Antonine and Foucher for herself.
Decatur, however, was originally Rue de la Quai, or Levee Street. But because of the action of the river, the street was no longer on the levee, so in 1870, it was renamed Decatur in honor or the naval hero Stephen Decatur who played a major role in the War of 1812, a very big deal in the history of our city.
NOTE: Thanks to the readers who reminded me about the tiny Lee's Hamburgers that used to be on University Place next to the Orpheum Theater. How could I have forgotten?
