History New Orleans Po-Boy - Oak Street Po

History
New Orleans
Po-Boy
Poor boy sandwiches represent bedrock
New Orleans. The shotgun house of New
Orleans cuisine, po-boys are familiar but
satisfying. The sandwich is as diverse as
the city it symbolizes. The crisp loaves have
served as a culinary crossroads, encasing
the most pedestrian and exotic of foods:
shrimp, oyster, catfish, soft-shell crabs as
well as French fries and ham and cheese.
Comfort food in other cities seldom
reaches such heights.
Interior of Martin Brothers' original location,
French Market, early 1920s
Courtesy of Martin Family
Martin Brothers Poor Boy Tiles in front of
St. Claude Avenue Restaurant entrance
Photograph by Cathe Mizell-Nelson, 1995
B
"
etween 900 and 1,100 loaves of
bread were used every 24 hours and
the restaurant was open 24 hours a
day. On a Carnival Day over 3000
loaves of bread were used."
Martin Brothers Letter
courtesy of Special Collections, Tulane University
- Bennie Martin
Close-up of 1932 poor boy
Courtesy of Martin Family
Written by Michael Mizell-Nelson. Design by Becky Cierpich/C4 Tech & Design. Production thanks to New
Orleans Po-Boy Preservation Festival and Oak Street-Main Street. Join us on Oak Street for the New Orleans
Po-Boy Preservation Festival every November, the Sunday before Thanksgiving. Visit us on the web:
www.poboyfest.org.
W
"
e fed those men free of charge
until the strike ended. Whenever we
saw one of the striking men coming,
one of us would say, 'Here comes
another poor boy.'" - Bennie Martin
John Gendusa Bakery, Touro Street
Courtesy of John Gendusa
Michael Mizell-Nelson teaches in the University of New Orleans history department. He also oversees the
Hurricane Digital Memory Bank project, an online database documenting the impact of Katrina and Rita
upon the Gulf Coast: www.hurricanearchive.org.
provided large sandwiches to the strikers.
Bennie Martin said, “We fed those men free
of charge until the strike ended. Whenever
we saw one of the striking men coming, one
of us would say, ‘Here comes another poor
boy.’”
As with many culinary innovations, the poor
boy has attracted many legends regarding its
origins. However, documentary evidence
confirms that your grandparents’ stories
about one particular restaurant were right.
Bennie and Clovis Martin left their Raceland, Louisiana, home in the Acadiana
region in the mid-1910s for New Orleans.
Both worked as streetcar conductors until
they opened Martin Brothers Coffee Stand
and Restaurant in the French Market in
1922. The years they had spent working as
streetcar operators and members of the
street railway employees’ union would eventually lead to their hole-in-the-wall coffee
stand becoming the birthplace of the poor
boy sandwich.
Following increasingly heated contract
negotiations, the streetcar motormen and
conductors struck beginning July 1, 1929.
The survival of the carmen’s union and 1,100
jobs was in question. Transit strikes
throughout the nation provoked emotional
displays of public support, and the 1929
strike ranks among the nation’s most
violent.
When the company attempted to run the
cars on July 5 using “strike breakers” (career
criminals brought in from New York) brickbats and jeering crowds stopped them. More
than 10,000 New Orleanians gathered
downtown and watched strike supporters
disable and then burn the first car operated
by a strike breaker.
Strike Supporters destroy streetcar,
Canal Street, 1929
Courtesy of Gendusa Family
A highly sympathetic public participated in
greatest numbers by avoiding the transit
system, which remained shut down for two
weeks. Former New Orleans Fire Department Superintendent William McCrossen
experienced the strike as a teenager: “Dare
not—nobody, nobody would ride the streetcars. Number one, they were for the carmen.
Number two, there was a danger [in riding
the cars].” Brickbats greeted the few streetcars that ran. Small and large businesses
donated goods and services to the union
local.
Our Meal is free to any members of
"
Division 194. . . . We are with you till h--l
freezes, and when it does, we will
furnish blankets to keep you warm."
- Bennie and Clovis Martin
The many support letters included one from
the Martin Brothers promising, “Our meal is
free to any members of Division 194.” Their
letter concluded, “We are with you till h--l
freezes, and when it does, we will furnish
blankets to keep you warm.” In order to
maintain their promise, the Martins
The traditional French bread’s narrowed
ends meant that much of each loaf was
wasted, so the Martins worked with baker
John Gendusa to develop a 40-inch loaf of
bread that retained its uniform, rectangular
shape from end to end. This innovation
allowed for half-loaf sandwiches 20 inches
in length as well as a 15-inch standard and
smaller ones. The original poor boy sandwiches offered the same fillings as had been
served on French bread loaves before the
strike, but the size was startlingly new.
Y
" ou could get a sandwich anywhere,
but you could only get a poor boy at
Martin Brothers."
- Former Fire Superintendent
William McCrossen
Clovis and Bennie parted ways by the late
1930s. Bennie held onto the St. Claude location, and Clovis developed several other
restaurants throughout the city known as
Martin and Son Poor Boy Bar and Restaurant. Their locations on Gentilly and Airline
Highways lasted the longest. Clovis died in
1955, and Martin Brother’s St. Claude
restaurant survived into the 1970s. By then
the sandwich name had spread far beyond
New Orleans.
By the start of the Great Depression, the
carmen had lost the strike and their jobs.
The continuing generosity of the Martins as
well as the size of the sandwiches proved to
be a wise business decision that earned them
renown and hundreds of new customers.
In 1931, the restaurant relocated to the 2000
block of St. Claude Avenue—just two blocks
from Gendusa Bakery. A couple of years
later they expanded their building into a
much larger restaurant with an attached
billiards hall. As the Depression worsened,
many New Orleanians enjoyed the opportunity to feed themselves or their families
using the famously oversized poor boy sandwiches.
Martin Brothers more famous location,
corner of Touro & St. Claude, 1932
Courtesy of Martin Family
1930s Prices
15-inch standard:
10 cents
20-inch half-loaf sandwich:
15 cents
Lettuce and Tomato Sandwich:
Free
provided large sandwiches to the strikers.
Bennie Martin said, “We fed those men free
of charge until the strike ended. Whenever
we saw one of the striking men coming, one
of us would say, ‘Here comes another poor
boy.’”
As with many culinary innovations, the poor
boy has attracted many legends regarding its
origins. However, documentary evidence
confirms that your grandparents’ stories
about one particular restaurant were right.
Bennie and Clovis Martin left their Raceland, Louisiana, home in the Acadiana
region in the mid-1910s for New Orleans.
Both worked as streetcar conductors until
they opened Martin Brothers Coffee Stand
and Restaurant in the French Market in
1922. The years they had spent working as
streetcar operators and members of the
street railway employees’ union would eventually lead to their hole-in-the-wall coffee
stand becoming the birthplace of the poor
boy sandwich.
Following increasingly heated contract
negotiations, the streetcar motormen and
conductors struck beginning July 1, 1929.
The survival of the carmen’s union and 1,100
jobs was in question. Transit strikes
throughout the nation provoked emotional
displays of public support, and the 1929
strike ranks among the nation’s most
violent.
When the company attempted to run the
cars on July 5 using “strike breakers” (career
criminals brought in from New York) brickbats and jeering crowds stopped them. More
than 10,000 New Orleanians gathered
downtown and watched strike supporters
disable and then burn the first car operated
by a strike breaker.
Strike Supporters destroy streetcar,
Canal Street, 1929
Courtesy of Gendusa Family
A highly sympathetic public participated in
greatest numbers by avoiding the transit
system, which remained shut down for two
weeks. Former New Orleans Fire Department Superintendent William McCrossen
experienced the strike as a teenager: “Dare
not—nobody, nobody would ride the streetcars. Number one, they were for the carmen.
Number two, there was a danger [in riding
the cars].” Brickbats greeted the few streetcars that ran. Small and large businesses
donated goods and services to the union
local.
Our Meal is free to any members of
"
Division 194. . . . We are with you till h--l
freezes, and when it does, we will
furnish blankets to keep you warm."
- Bennie and Clovis Martin
The many support letters included one from
the Martin Brothers promising, “Our meal is
free to any members of Division 194.” Their
letter concluded, “We are with you till h--l
freezes, and when it does, we will furnish
blankets to keep you warm.” In order to
maintain their promise, the Martins
The traditional French bread’s narrowed
ends meant that much of each loaf was
wasted, so the Martins worked with baker
John Gendusa to develop a 40-inch loaf of
bread that retained its uniform, rectangular
shape from end to end. This innovation
allowed for half-loaf sandwiches 20 inches
in length as well as a 15-inch standard and
smaller ones. The original poor boy sandwiches offered the same fillings as had been
served on French bread loaves before the
strike, but the size was startlingly new.
Y
" ou could get a sandwich anywhere,
but you could only get a poor boy at
Martin Brothers."
- Former Fire Superintendent
William McCrossen
Clovis and Bennie parted ways by the late
1930s. Bennie held onto the St. Claude location, and Clovis developed several other
restaurants throughout the city known as
Martin and Son Poor Boy Bar and Restaurant. Their locations on Gentilly and Airline
Highways lasted the longest. Clovis died in
1955, and Martin Brother’s St. Claude
restaurant survived into the 1970s. By then
the sandwich name had spread far beyond
New Orleans.
By the start of the Great Depression, the
carmen had lost the strike and their jobs.
The continuing generosity of the Martins as
well as the size of the sandwiches proved to
be a wise business decision that earned them
renown and hundreds of new customers.
In 1931, the restaurant relocated to the 2000
block of St. Claude Avenue—just two blocks
from Gendusa Bakery. A couple of years
later they expanded their building into a
much larger restaurant with an attached
billiards hall. As the Depression worsened,
many New Orleanians enjoyed the opportunity to feed themselves or their families
using the famously oversized poor boy sandwiches.
Martin Brothers more famous location,
corner of Touro & St. Claude, 1932
Courtesy of Martin Family
1930s Prices
15-inch standard:
10 cents
20-inch half-loaf sandwich:
15 cents
Lettuce and Tomato Sandwich:
Free
History
New Orleans
Po-Boy
Poor boy sandwiches represent bedrock
New Orleans. The shotgun house of New
Orleans cuisine, po-boys are familiar but
satisfying. The sandwich is as diverse as
the city it symbolizes. The crisp loaves have
served as a culinary crossroads, encasing
the most pedestrian and exotic of foods:
shrimp, oyster, catfish, soft-shell crabs as
well as French fries and ham and cheese.
Comfort food in other cities seldom
reaches such heights.
Interior of Martin Brothers' original location,
French Market, early 1920s
Courtesy of Martin Family
Martin Brothers Poor Boy Tiles in front of
St. Claude Avenue Restaurant entrance
Photograph by Cathe Mizell-Nelson, 1995
B
"
etween 900 and 1,100 loaves of
bread were used every 24 hours and
the restaurant was open 24 hours a
day. On a Carnival Day over 3000
loaves of bread were used."
Martin Brothers Letter
courtesy of Special Collections, Tulane University
- Bennie Martin
Close-up of 1932 poor boy
Courtesy of Martin Family
Written by Michael Mizell-Nelson. Design by Becky Cierpich/C4 Tech & Design. Production thanks to New
Orleans Po-Boy Preservation Festival and Oak Street-Main Street. Join us on Oak Street for the New Orleans
Po-Boy Preservation Festival every November, the Sunday before Thanksgiving. Visit us on the web:
www.poboyfest.org.
W
"
e fed those men free of charge
until the strike ended. Whenever we
saw one of the striking men coming,
one of us would say, 'Here comes
another poor boy.'" - Bennie Martin
John Gendusa Bakery, Touro Street
Courtesy of John Gendusa
Michael Mizell-Nelson teaches in the University of New Orleans history department. He also oversees the
Hurricane Digital Memory Bank project, an online database documenting the impact of Katrina and Rita
upon the Gulf Coast: www.hurricanearchive.org.