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E-MAIL MEMORIES, PAGE 32



MARLA EHRHARDT MANCIL:
Bob, I have spent the better part of a day browsing your site. I grew up in Slidell in the 60's and 70's listening to TIX on my "baby blue" portable radio. How great those times were. I have fond memories of Pontchartrain Beach, I remember at the end of the school year you could bring your report card and get free rides for good grades. Also Bali Hai was so exotic and as I remember, the food was pretty good. It was a place for really romantic dinners for someone in high school and college! Thanks for all the great memories.

BOB:
Hi Marla, my portable radio was green...a big old bulky plastic thing in a leather case with a strap that went over one's head and onto the shoulder so the radio could be worn at your side! But the tunes and radio stations that came out of that speaker were great, like on yours. If I had brought my report card for free rides at Pontchartrain Beach they would have had me washing and scrubbing elephants at the beach stage instead. And yes, when you went on a date to the Bali Ha'i at the beach you knew that you were finally a grown-up...sorta. I wish I had kept one of those tall souvenir Bali Ha'i glasses with the carved Tiki face on it...what a nice piece of memorabilia that would be as we recall the great days and nights we spent "At the Beach, at the Beach, at Pontchartrain Beach..."


C GROUP- ANDREW, SHAUNA, JODI, KIM, DUANE, SARA, JOHN, AVERY, INBAL, TIFFANY, NICK, MAGNUS:
CC Courtney is our acting teacher (first years) at The Neighborhood Playhouse. The man is a genius. We are, by far, the luckiest 12 people in the school. We get the best teacher, the coolest teacher and the only teacher with "monday morning stories". We're extremely proud to have the opportunity to be guided by CC. We may never have had the chance to hear him on the radio like the rest of his fans, but we are definitely his biggest fans. We know how cool we are to have him all to ourselves... :) Love ya dad!!!

BOB:
Hi Gang! What a great letter and tribute to CC. As much as you love him now, as the years go by you will realize even more what a gem of a person he is and what an influence he will have on you every day of your lives. New Orleans was lucky to have him here for a few years, and everyone who ever listened to him or met him still remembers him fondly to this day. Such a charismatic person enters the lives of others rarely, and those he touches are forever enhanced by having known him, no matter for how long.

Embrace your time with CC and treasure every moment that you have to share with him!


STEVEN KEESE, Houston:
This will be the first year I have not replaced my Lucky bean, from St. Joe's Church 1802 Tulane Ave. I have had a Lucky Bean in my pocket, for 42 Years. I have had many Lucky beans from many homes when I was growing up in the Garden District..

BOB:
You would have gotten quite wet at Sunday's parade but I think the St. Pat parade downtown went off ok last night. I can't tell you how many Lucky Beans I lost to my wife's washing machine!


JOSEPH JOLLY :
I was raised in the neighborhood of Tulane Avenue and White Street and played tag, etc. in the Criminal Courts Building on Tulane Avenue, Broad and White Streets. The Sugar Bowl Restaurant was on Tulane and White Streets and every and every Friday evening/night the families got together for seafood. The adults bought beers, etc. and we all sat around a large table, cleaning Crabs, peeling shrimps and eating potato salad, etc. And sometimes a band for dancing. I think sometime after the early fifties Tulane Avenue became the Airline Highway (or The Miracle Mile). And most of us had grown up and married or moved from the neighborhood. Most of the people I knew moved to Metairie or Kenner and some to Chalmette or east New Orleans. Fond memories never leave you.

BOB:
You're right...nobody can take those memories away.


JOSEPH A CONDON, III, Midlothian, Va.
Bob: Just found your New Orleans Email Memories web site. I'm retiring next week from my one and only employer since graduating from USL (U. of La. - Lafayette now), and will enjoy reading the memories over the next few days. Here are a few contributions I'd like to submit.

About Me: Born 9/5/48 - Hotel Dieu Hospital * Grew up at 1485 Athis Street * Attended Saint Francis Cabrini Elementary through grade 7 then switched to Holy Cross for 8th and 9th grades until parents relocated to Baltimore (bummer).

Some Memories: Saturday mornings fishing the banks of Bayou St. John * Sunday morning breakfasts with neighbors and friends at the Rexall Drugstore booths (Mirabeau and Paris Ave.) * Playing the pinball machine at Ched's Lounge, while my parents drank, and getting paid 5 cents for each free game I racked up (don't tell the cops) * Seeing Carlos Marcello meet with his lieutenants at Ched's Lounge.

Buying Lik-M-Aid and wax lips, candle powered toy tin boats, and live dyed baby chicks and ducks at Woolworths on Canal * Saturday afternoon matinees at the Fox and Beacon Theaters * School field trip to see Ben Hur at the Sanger Theater * Having my mom drive a car load of us guys slowly down Bourbon Street at night so we could look through the open club doors * Seeing Blaze Starr pull up to the A&P in her Pink Polka Dot Cadillac on Saturdays to grocery shop * MacKenzie's Turtles and Upside-down Cakes.

My 15 minutes of fame on Miss Muffet (the cookie tasted awful and I spit it out under my stool on camera) * Jingle, Jangle, Jingle Here Comes Mr. Bingle * The Point * The story of the City Park Killer with a hook for a hand * Lizard, Lizard Show Me Your Blanket * Meeting Paw Paw (my maternal grandfather) at the docks when he returned from a cruise with United Fruit Company * WTIX and stopping on the Causeway one night to dance to Ray Charles.

Friday night seafood dinner with family at Bart's * Fried Oyster and Roast Beef Poor Boys * Classmates and Neighbors - Danny McPheeters, Fred Burner, Alan Bop, Joe Gautreaux, all the Aucoins * Seeing Fats Domino through his 2nd floor recording studio window while riding the bus to Holy Cross * Friday night high school football games at City Park Stadium.

The tipped 'Hail Mary' pass that beat Jesuit with no time left on the clock * My pediatricians Drs. Craven and Cohen * Bali Hai * Watermelon and Snow Ball stands on Lakeshore Drive, and standing on the Sea Wall when a hurricane was coming

That's enough for now. Thanks for the great web site.

BOB:
Funny you should mention Bali Ha'i. See the picture at the top of this page. The entrance to the Bali Ha'i and the sign, along with one of the peaks of the Zephyr, all original relics of Pontchartrain Beach, were saved from the scrap heap when the Beach was demolished, and they are now on display at the park next to Kenner City Hall. The original little miniature train that you could ride around Audubon Park is there as well. And I bet when you stopped on the Causeway and danced to Ray Charles, I bet it was to "What'd I Say" ... seems we all started to move when we heard those first few notes! And speaking of "Lizard Lizard," did you also believe (briefly) that when a green lizard made a circular red pouch under its neck, that there was really a penny in there ... ? :-)


DEBBIE PERRONE:
Hi Bob,
How about: Uncle Henry Dupre and Popeye * Wayne Mack, the Great McNut * Miss Linda with her magic mirror * Popeye summer movie "club" at the Saenger * fish sticks on Friday * white pleated skirts on the first Friday of the month (blue pleated skirts every other day - Catholic school of course) * beanies and ties for girls uniforms * Four o clocks pre-teen club * Valencia club for pre-teens and teens * streetcar seats folding to ride forward or backward ...

Traveling sno ball truck in Metairie * Lester's watermelon at the lakefront (you would buy a slice of watermelon and eat outside on picnic tables) * Manuel's hot tamales * Verbena bakery in Gentilly * Mr. Wedding Cake bakery in Gentilly * St. Aloysius school * Sacred Heart dances * Frankie Ford * 3 o'clock afternoon movie * Loretta Young show * Terry Flettrich noon ("Midday) show * Krauss shopping * Rockery Inn at Robert E. Lee and Canal Blvd. * Melmac dishes ...

Hair dryers with the "inflatable" hood * spoolies (pink rubber curlers for hair) * Betsy Wetsy dolls * Tiny Tears dolls * Patty Playpal dolls (real child size) * Nash automobiles * Fireball XL 5 puppet show on Saturday morning * Captain Kangaroo * Morgus the Magnificent * The clown at Pontchartrain Beach * Pontchartain Beach theme song * The bunnies at Scheinuk florist on St. Charles Ave. (at Easter) * Mr. Bingle at Maison Blanche * Labiches's * Gus Mayer * Kreegers * Morgan and Lindsey stores * T G & Y * Katz & Besthoff ...

Progress Grocery muffulettas * Hopper's Drive In * french fry po-boys * Krauss lunch counter * D.H. Holmes lunch counter * Goldrings * ladies wearing hats and gloves to go to Canal Street * people making the sign of the cross when passing a church * Nuns clicking a clicker to have everyone genuflect at the same time * SRA reading * Piggly Wiggly * A & P * Mike Persia Chevrolet * St. Roch market * Fitzgerald's Restaurant * T. Pittari's * Sclafani's Restaurant * Shakey's Pizza * Mr. Pizza * Campo's appliance giant * getting measured for shoes * Royal Castle * Duncan yo-yos * skates with a key ...

Wagons * scooters made with skate wheels * spinning tops * chinese jump rope * jacks * tiddly winks * pick up sticks * paper dolls * 108 crayon box with the sharpener (you really hit the big time if you had these) * chenille bedspreads * clothes hanging on the line * picking figs off the tree * aluminum Christmas trees with the revolving color wheel and ornaments all the same color * carboard fireplace and chimney at Christmas time * The President river boat * Repertory theater for high school students * The Bali Hai at the Beach * Playboy club (never went) * Victoria station restaurant * The Tiki House or lounge * Frankie Brent's * The Blue Room entertainment * Werlein's music (now Palace Restaurant) ...

Roosevelt Hotel * St. Charles Hotel * La Louisiane Restaurant * Moran's Riverside Restaurant (now Bella Luna's) * Elmwood Plantation Restaurant * Tchoupitoulas Plantation Restaurant * St. Joseph School * Redemptorist School * Holy Angels School * Tulane Stadium * Loyola Dental School * Pontchartrain Beach beauty contests on stage * Skyvue Drive-In on Chef Mentuer * Westgate Drive-In in Kenner (where Lexus is now on Vets) * Do Drive-In on Metairie Road * Airline Drive-In on Airline * Jeff Drive-In on Jefferson Hwy. * Saturday Hop and the John Pela Show ... I used to be a Romano dancer.

BOB:
Whew! I just re-lived my entire life!! About all I can add is...when Sclafani's Restaurant was in business on Causeway Blvd, two regular customers in the '50's were Roy Rogers and Mario Lanza.


BIG LOU DUFFOURC, Washington D.C.:
Bob, I just ran across your web site. Talk about bring back memories. I did a show on WYAT in the mid eighties. It was Big Lou golden oldies show. It was on the weekends. I worked for Ed Muniz then (Phase Two Broadcasting). I statrted my show each week with a tribute to Poppa Stoppa and opened my show with his theme song - Dig It by Joe Houston. Talked through the beginning of the song like the Poppa did and mentioned names of people like "Skim Milk Mamie" who was Ed Muniz's mother who always drank skim milk. I used my own 50's collection of music because I had better control over my music. I have around 2000 oldies 45's in my collection. My listeners loved my show and my music. I still have all of the fan mail I received while on the air. I was sorry to see W'YAT go off the air. Thanks for the memories and good luck with your fantastic web site.

BOB:
Even in this era of suck-corporate radio, we could still use a little, down-to-earth AM like WYAT that people could love again. But nobody's interested. Oh well, we were all part of a great little radio station and we have some nice memories.


GARY HOLLAND:
Hey Bob! Gary Holland here. Just a note to say how much I've enjoyed your site and I found it by way of searching for Hap Glaudi, my all time favorite sportscaster and the "I Speak As I Please" author. This is a phase I still use to this day!

My "Humble" story goes into Chalmette where I was manager of "Stash" records(Can you imagine?), a record store owned jointly by Hugh and someone else whose name escapes me now. Too many years and too much New Orleans to recall anything too distinctly. The 70's are a little blurry.

So I instituted the "Hap Glaudi Memorial Football Pool" while working on the film "Independence Day" which coincidentally had Harry Connick Jr. with a minor role. I don't think Jr. was old enough to appreciate just who Hap was though.

Captain Humble and Scoot were quite a pair when they were teamed up and I sure wish there were some archives of any of their shows or any of Hap's for that matter. If anyone anywhere has anything at all related to these shows please post the info. It certainly would be like a night at the F&M Patio all over again.

I left New Orleans back in '84 during the World's Fair and landed in LA for the Olympics! What a great time to be alive and ME for that matter! I had been signed on with Explorer Jacques Cousteau as his Audio Engineer for the "Rediscovery of the World" series which took us around the world several times on one Expedition after another! WOW!

Greetings to the Glaudi family and to Eric Tracey and to all who traverse this site and have New Orleans roots. Bon Chance"~ Gary Holland

BOB:
Hi Gary, great email. Nice to hear from you. "Stash" - now that brings back memories, along with the other great record stores of the '70's. You'd hear them mentioned on the radio at the end of commercials for new albums, "Available for only $2.99 at Stash, Warehouse Records, Tape City, The Mushroom, and the Music Box" etc. Such fun radio days!


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