Social life in old New Orleans : Being recollections of my girlhood

A bright‑tasting portrait of a vanished world, this memoir drifts through the streets, salons and schoolrooms of mid‑nineteenth‑century New Orleans. The narrator recalls childhood games, handmade gowns, and the first “one‑price” shop that bewildered the city’s merchants, while vivid sketches of market doorways and the French Opera House bring the scene to life. Through tales of picayune negotiations and quiet evenings in candlelit courtyards, listeners sense the rhythm of a society that balanced French elegance with emerging American hustle.

Interwoven with anecdotes about teachers, boarding schools, and the seasonal fairs, the book offers a gentle lesson in the customs that shaped families and friends before the war reshaped the South. From festive balls at the Mint to humble steamboat rides on the Mississippi, each chapter feels like a fireside conversation, inviting the audience to imagine the scents of magnolia, the clatter of horse‑drawn carriages, and the soft murmur of Creole voices that once filled the city’s avenues.