Photo Gallery: New Orleans Treasures
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Plantation Tokens
In the early 1900s, many employers paid their workers in tokens only redeemable at the designated provision store. In 1910, Louisiana outlawed these practices but employers continued to use tokens to indicate the amount of time worked and as an advance against future wages, redeeming them only on pay day. These "Plantation tokens," collected by Joan Boudreaux, were used as currency by freed slaves.
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Voodoo Drum
Musical instruments, like this drum from the collection of Cathy Smith, are used in voodoo rituals and ceremonies. Voodoo came to America and New Orleans with the Creole slaves of French plantation owners fleeing the Haitian revolution. The Voodoo religion fuses Catholicism and traditional African religions and is defined by the belief in the power of a single creator god diffused through other spirits and natural forces.
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Steamboat Chair
Some of the finer steamboats had luxurious accomodations on board, including grand saloons, gilded ceilings, and elegant furniture like this chair belonging to collectors Arlin Dease and Duane Ulkins. While the rich had private cabins on the upper decks, poorer passengers slept below on the freight decks and used hay bales or grain sacks for bedding. Steamboat racing was also extremely popular. The most famous race took place in 1870 from New Orleans to St. Louis between the Robert E. Lee and the Natchez. The Robert E. Lee won the race in a time of three days, eighteen hours, and fourteen minutes.
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Jazz Clarinet
This clarinet, owned today by Dr. Michael White, was once owned by jazz legend Omer Simeon. Born in 1902, Omer and his family moved from New Orleans to Chicago in 1914. He performed and recorded frequently with Jelly Roll Morton, and is considered to have been Morton's favorite clarinet player.
