The Blue Room, The Roosevelt Hotel, New Orleans, 1952

We love this 1952 menu cover of the Roosevelt Hotel in New Orleans for its wonderful image. What's going on behind those illuminated windows, we wonder, and look at the stylish automobiles lined up on the street.

The building isn't actually blue, of course, it's the clever way the artist brought attention to The Blue Room, once one of the most famous supper clubs in America. Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald and Frank Sinatra were among the list of stars that performed here. We can imagine enraptured audiences listening to these great musicians while drinking Sazeracs or the hotel's famous Ramos Gin Fizz.

The hotel opened in 1893 and was originally called The Grunewald Hotel after its owner Louis Grunewald, a German immigrant. A popular feature in the early 1900s was The Cave, reckoned by some historians to be the first nightclub in the United States. Decorated with hanging stalactites and waterfalls, it featured chorus girls dancing to early jazz. The hotel has gone through several owners over the decades. It was damaged during Hurricane Katrina and closed down. After a multi-million dollar restoration, the hotel reopened in 2009, is now a Waldorf Astoria hotel, and remains one of New Orleans' most cherished institutions.

Courtesy Private Collection

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