Friday, November 19, 2010

Cool New Retro Coasters from the French Market in New Orleans. Status: Lookin' Good

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I usually stroll through the French Market in New Orleans just to do the "touristy" thing and maybe pick up a T-shirt or two, some sunglasses and a new wallet.


It's not a Flea Market in the sense that you might find any antiques or anything

vintage. It's almost all just the same stuff you'll find in all the hundreds of tourist

shops in the French Quarter. But! Once in a while you find a Diamond in the

rough!

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This guy, David, was peddling these little Gems! We got to talking and it turns out

his girlfriend takes the pictures then they make these Coasters in their studio, Milk

Studio
. Cool huh?! I bought a set of six picking out some neat Neon Signage

images from New Orleans and the surrounding area. After making my purchase

and having a pleasant conversation with David, we continued perusing the market

only to find "lesser" versions that didn't seem to have the same authenticity in

other booths. I guess these other vendors noticed how cool these were and

wanted to get in on some of that action!

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As an "It Really Is A Small World" aside, I was having dinner downtown here in St.

Louis at a new joint on 10th Street at Washington Ave. called Stefano's when a

conversation about New Orleans came up. Turns out the server, Laura, had lived

there in the recent past. She showed me a cool shirt with a screenprint of an

image of a N. O. water meter cover on it. I mentioned having bought some

coasters at the French Market and she knew immediately what coasters I was

talking about as well as the guy, David, selling them! They were good friends!

Well, since St. Louis is New Orleans' sister city, I guess it shouldn't be such a

surprise.



Bonus; here are some more pics of the French Market. In case ya can't get down

there any time soon!

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3 comments:

  1. Ok, I admit it.
    I'm a freak for old Neon signage.
    Gotta' check their website now and see how much money I'll end up spending on these babies.

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  2. Those are really cool. I grew up in Louisiana, and New Orleans is one of my favorite cities. I have a good bit of oddball New Orleans art in my house...a pottery box that's an exact replica of Marie Laveau's tomb, a ceramic rendition of Central Grocery mounted on part of a wooden crate, some framed prints by James Mitchell-Michalopoulos.

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  3. What cool coasters! Retro Roadhusband and I are hoping to go to New Orleans some time this fall - I'll put the flea market (and the coasters) on our list of things to check out!

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