Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Fall 2005 - (Page 48)

TWO OTHER IMPROVEMENTS HELPED NEW Orleans as a coffee port: After 1900, new port facilities with large riverfront warehouses replaced the old open wooden wharves, offering the coffee protection from the elements; and coffee producers’ requirement of payment from London banks was interrupted by the start of World War I in 1914, as they began accepting payment guarantees from American banks. In 1917 the Hibernia Bank asked: “How much coffee is handled in a year? Well, the ‘coffee year’ ends June 30, and present figures show that the Port of New Orleans will have received more than 3,000,000 bags [396,000,000 pounds]. This is 35 percent of the total movement — a figure that plainly shows the importance of New Orleans as a coffee city.” Until the 1870s all coffee came to New Orleans by AmericanTypical of coffee owned sailing vessels, but about houses in New 1874 the city’s first steam shipOrleans about ment came from Brazil on the S.S. 1870 was that of Mariana. This improved trade, C. Noesser at the since sailing vessels had irregular corner of schedules, and although they were less expensive than steam, Tchoupitoulas and insurance rates were higher Calliope streets. because coffee could be more easily ruined on the slow trips. This was as important to the well-being of coffee in the 19th century as today’s container shipping protects coffee from exposure to contamination. Throughout the 19th century coffee importers in New Orleans were located on Gravier near Camp — the heart of the coffee district. Names like Emile Cottraux, Peter Poursine, Hard & Rand, J.L. Phipps, F. Cannon and George Gordon operated in the last part of the century. While they are all gone, Westfeldt Brothers, Inc. remains in operation. Its roots date to New York in 1851. This was the year Gustaf Reinhold Westfeldt was born. As a partner in the New York firm, he arrived as its representative in New Orleans in 1872 and then founded Westfeldt Brothers on Gravier Street five years later with his brother, Patrick McClosky Westfeldt. The firm still operates as the oldest coffee importer in the United States specializing in providing coffee to small and medium roasters. Another dealer was Jacob Aron who opened a coffee importing business in 1898 with his brother-in-law, Leon Israel. Although the partnership failed, Aron profited from high coffee prices when New Orleans was closed to shipping during its last yellow fever epidemic in 1905. He went into partnership with William 48 LOUISIANA ENDOWMENT FOR THE HUMANITIES\Fall 2005

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Fall 2005

Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Fall 2005 Contents Editor’s Column Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities Louisiana State Museum After Katrina and Rita Tabasco: Edmund McIlhenny and the Birth of a Louisiana Pepper Sauce Historic New Orleans Collection Louisiana Association of Museums New Orleans’ Coffee Connection No Man’s Land Louisiana Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism Bookstand (Book Review by Thomas Uskali) Sound Advice (Music Review by Ben Sandmel) Forum (Commentary by Roy Blount, Jr. )

Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Fall 2005

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