Fox the Hatter: 1910

Kolb's was a restaurant that closed sometime shortly after 1992. It featured an amazing ceiling fan system where eight or so fans were all linked by belts and driven (slowly) by one central motor.

I still go to Meyer to get my hats. Alas, while the sign for Kolb's German Restaurant was preserved, the restaurant is long gone. The last time I ate there about 1993 the interior still looked almost exactly like the below early 20th century postcard. One interesting aspect of the decor was the system of ceiling fans, which Mr. Kolb had acquired from the 1884 World Fair. I wonder what happened to those fans?

Back in the '20s Johnny DeDroit led the house jazz band at Kolb's. DeDroit made a few recordings for Okeh in '24 and '25. In his old age DeDroit said he thought the records turned out lousy, but they sound good to me.

Great to see that German restaurant Kolb is still in the same building in 2008, although now called Kolbs.

More about Kolbs, now in its 111th year:

http://old-new-orleans.com/NO_Kolbs.html

[The restaurant is long gone. See above. - Dave]

I love the street side shoe shine chair on the right side before the intersection.

Turn 180 degrees and you'd see the scene posted here 5/6/2010 and find out more about Peter Fabacher, Jax Beer, and other pearls of wisdom.

Below is the same view from September of 2008.

Kolb's is still there although the sign has been updated. Looks like there is still a restaurant where Fabacher's was. Interestingly, the street looks narrower now than it did in the 1910 picture but there's still a streetcar in the modern shot.

This may be the first business district shot I've seen on Shorpy that didn't have a dentist's sign in it. Hard to find a good dentist when you need one.

But I've purchased several hats at Meyer the Hatter, 120 St. Charles. They've been around since 1894.