1800's S. Hernsheim, El Belmont cigars lithograph saloon pre porcelain sign OLD

Description

Preserving the Past
The main office of Deutsch, Kerrigan & Stiles is located in the former La Belle Creole Cigar & Tobacco Factory, built in 1882 in New Orleans.  The firm renovated this certified  historic landmark a century later, calling on the expertise of its own attorneys in finance, real estate, construction and design. The City of New Orleans' web site calls the building "the most impressive of [the area's] late 19th century structures."  The building sits on the corner of Magazine and Julia Streets in what is locally referred to as the city's Arts District, an area well known for its art, museums and historic buildings.
The La Belle Creole Cigar and Tobacco Factory was built by  Industrialist Simon Hernsheim at the end of the Civil War reconstruction period, only five years after the last Federal troops left the city. It was one of the largest factory buildings in New Orleans and is often seen in photographs and lithographs of the neighborhood made during that era.  The photograph to the right was taken only months after the building was completed.
According to Where Y'at Magazine (January 2007), "the factory employed 361 men and 726 women and an additional 100 employees in the office and on the road.  In 1892 they produced 40 million cigars.  The Hernsheim factory was the largest cigar manufactory in the country at that time.  His most popular brands included El Belmont, La Belle Creole and Jackson Square.  Their quality was world famous and Hernsheim exported to England, Germany, Mexico and other Central American countries."
The building remained a tobacco factory throughout the first decade of the 20th century.  It is one of the best preserved examples of factory architecture from the latter part of the 19th century and bears strong suggestions of both later Italianate and Richardsonian Romanesque styles.  The door and windows on the first floor were renovated to precisely replicate the original long-lost mill work.  The building's current colors are reminiscent of its original look when horses rather than cars passed daily on the surrounding streets.
This wood framed cigar sign is spectacular.....I am including some info that i have found thru google...I was told this sign came out of a New Orleans Saloon around the late 1800's...frame size is 39'' x 50'' & the print size is approx. 25'' x 34''.....ther are some cracks in the matting, however the print is excellent with only a couple of rub marks...The frame has a few issues of missing pieces & if you look close you can see the areas......here is more info on S. Hernsheim Cigar company
Simon Hernsheim, born in New Orleans March 4, 1839, to Joseph Hernsheim and Ricka
Katzenstein, entered a lucrative business in 1857. He began supplying the tobacco leaf for
the European market, but soon the Civil War began and he enlisted in the Confederate Army.
There were numerous cigar factories in the French Quarter, and after Reconstruction New
Orleans was the nation’s cigar capital. During this golden period 1880s to 1930s, 80% of
the nation’s male population smoked a cigar. But no competitor had the output of S.
Hernsheim Brothers & Co. In 1882, the cigar tycoon and his brothers erected the immense
five-story La Belle Creole Cigar & Tobacco Factory on the corner of Magazine and Julia Streets
in what is today the city’s Arts District. The factory employed over a thousand workers, and
women outnumbered the men by two to one. The Hernsheim factory was the largest in the
country at that time, and in 1892 they rolled 40 million cigars. Cuban tobacco came into the
Port of New Orleans, and exports went out to Europe, Mexico and Central America. The most
popular brands, La Belle Creole, Jackson Square and El Belmont gained international
renown for their quality. The Hernsheims also produced perique cigarettes with tobacco
grown in only one area of St. James Parish.
The year after constructing his huge factory, the cigar king needed a suitable dwelling place.
He sought the architectural services of the young Thomas Sully, who grew up in New Orleans
and trained in New York and Austin before returning to the city in 1880. His great-uncle and
namesake was the famed American painter, best known for his portraits of Thomas Jefferson,
James Monroe and Queen Victoria. In New Orleans the younger Sully is known as the king of
Uptown architecture, having designed more homes on St. Charles Avenue than any other.
In 1883, Sully designed for Simon Hernsheim an elegant Italianate chateau at 3811 St.
Charles. This Beaux-Arts mansion had a tower lost in the 1915 hurricane and arcades.
Renovations after the storm created a totally different look for this imposing building. Stately
columns in the Colonial Revival Style were added to give the structure its present look and
name, the Columns Hotel. It was purchased in 1917 and run as an exclusive boarding house
by the Feld family until 1953, when it was sold and finally converted into a hotel. The present
owners, Jacques and Claire Creppel, have owned The Columns since 1980.
1895 was not the best of times for Simon Hernsheim. Both his wife, Ida, and his sister,
Henrietta, died that year. In early January, 1898, a New York Times article reported that this
wealthy man, Simon Hernsheim, committed suicide by taking cyanide of potassium.
Grief resulting from the death of his wife and other family troubles were listed as the cause.
The Columns Hotel is today a wonderful place to enjoy a cocktail with friends and enjoy the
beauty of the avenue. In 1978, it was transformed into Madame Nell’s 1917 Storyville
bordello for the movie Pretty Baby. French Director Louis Malle cast Brooke Shields as a
NED HÉMARD
N
New Orleans Nostalgia
"La Belle Creole"
Ned Hémard
...... i may be able to deliver or meet somewhere also.......i have also included photos of other items i have listed on ebay.......I guarantee my stuff 100%
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ive included some photos of just a few original porcelain neon signs that i have for sale on eBay
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