Products

Sydney J. Besthoff III, past president and owner of K&B Drug Stores and grandson of Sydney J. Besthoff (founder with Gustave Katz of Katz & Besthoff Drug Store), is a meticulous keeper of records. The photographs found in this book are from his personal collection, covering the 92-year life span of Katz & Besthoff and K&B Drug Stores. This is a rare opportunity to see these photographs, which chronicle a piece of New Orleans history, during which time the store became a part of the community. K&B Drug Store grew from a local pharmacy with more than 50 locations in the New Orleans area to 186 stores in six states while remaining based in New Orleans. Fondly remembered as the "purple dragon," K&B is greatly missed by all those who passed through its purple doors and were rung up on its purple cash registers. Come sit inside a Katz & Besthoff location one last time and have a Nectar soda--and don't forget to pick up half a gallon of K&B ice cream on your way home.

On October 30, 1897, S.J. Shwartz, Gus Schullhoefer, and Hartwig D. Newman--with financial backing from banker Isidore Newman--opened the Maison Blanche at the corner of Canal Street and Rue Dauphine in New Orleans. Converting Shwartz's dry goods store into the city's first department store, the trio created a retail brand whose name lasted over a century. In 1908, Shwartz tore his store down and built what was the city's largest building--13 stories, with his Maison Blanche occupying the first five floors. The MB Building became, and still is, a New Orleans icon, and Maison Blanche was a retail leader in the city, attracting some of the best and brightest people in the business. One of those employees, display manager Emile Alline, created the store's second icon, the Christmas character "Mr. Bingle," in 1947. Mr. Bingle continues to spark the imagination of New Orleans children of all ages. Even though Maison Blanche has become part of New Orleans's past, the landmark Canal Street store lives on as the Ritz-Carlton Hotel.