January 7, 1947

New Orleans, Louisiana

 

Hello all –  

 

            I guess this city has seen its days, [but] the boom is over. During the war years the old French Quarter was a gold mine. Everything was running wide open, day and night.

            There’s a new mayor in office now and he is really clamping down. He already closed all hard books in town. To make a bet on a horse you have to go to the race track.

            There are a few bookies sneaking bets but they get knocked off in a hurry. You should hear some of the business men in Vieux Carré sobbing – they say [that] since they cut out all forms of gambling, the tourists and the other suckers don’t go to the French Quarter any more and that the business men on the mainstream get all the play. There’s nothing much left to attract them to the old spots.

            When I first came here, all the night spots were crowded, [but] they are starting to look sick now, and I heard one owner say [that] in six months half of the joints will go out of business.

            During the war there were a couple of army bases here, [and] plenty of GI’s looking for thrills [that] you sure could get in any form. Now they’re gone to the ship yards and the docks are either shut down or laying off.

            At one time money was so plentiful it was a paradise for all the race track touts, hucksters, hustlers and red light roses. A guy who hustles is one who makes a living without working too hard for it, and if you think they aren’t making money you got another thought coming.

            Take those rubber balloons that cost about 2 cents each.  They sell [them] to the kids from 25 to 50 cents. One guy told me on a Sunday [that] he used to make from 50 to 75 dollars.

            That’s not counting the 5 or 10 bucks the cops would shake him down for letting him operate.

            Then there’s the flower for the button hole or for the girl.  They cost about 15 cents to make, [but] they were getting 2 dollars a piece.

            Then there’s the hot tamales guys.  They would park their little wagons on the sidewalk, one guy to every 6 blocks. These tamales sell 25 cents a dozen but the guys would use an angle – they would paint 25 on the wagon but not the word dozen.

            So when a drunk would buy [some] they didn’t know if one cost 25 or what. All they made was only about 50 bucks a night.

            And the red light rosies: they really made it. Proposition them and it cost any place up to 50 bucks. Right now they’re selling property at 10 dollars an acre.

            Well I still haven’t found a reasonable place to eat at. Rents are high and food and the wages are low. I can’t figure this town out. Street car and bus fares [are] seven cents, transfer free. The movies [cost] from 15 cents to 85 cents. Right now “Blue Skies”, “The Jolson Story”, and “‘Till the Clouds Roll By” are playing.

            There [are] no burlesque shows, but there is a vaudeville show, and this week on stage Max Bair and Maxie Rosenbloom are playing.

            The movies close at midnight. Beer joints, restaurants and pool rooms are open all night, [and] in every block they have poker clubs open day and night, limit 25 cents and up.

            When the charter runs out I guess the mayor will close these spots up. There are plenty of pin ball machines but no slot machines. There is a beautiful race track here. The first day I went out, I met a fellow I know slightly. He was talking to a trainer, [and] I asked him if he had anything burned up, but he wouldn’t talk in front of the trainer.

            Later on he said he tried to wise me up but he couldn’t get away from the trainer. Well to cut the story short, the horse won and paid $124.00 for 2.  I was mad for a week – I bet on a stiff.

            That’s all for now - you’ll hear from me later, maybe the first of the month. You know that I mean?

 

                                                                        Bye –

Pete

 

P.S. Unless I pick a horse that runs in front.