Category: New Orleans History

  • When a Gambino’s Birthday Cake Made it to Hollywood

    When a Gambino’s Birthday Cake Made it to Hollywood

    Hollywood superstar Gregory Peck was in New Orleans speaking at a meeting of the American Cancer Society. It also happened to be his 50th birthday — and what better way to celebrate than with a Gambino’s cake? In our 75 years baking for the Greater New Orleans area, we at Gambino’s have had the honor…

  • How a boy with a “bad heart” showed Gambino’s soul

    How a boy with a “bad heart” showed Gambino’s soul

    Gambino’s Bakery cares about its community. Our neighbors matter, and they are part of what has made our shops so special for 75 years. Bryan Thomas, the boy with the “bad heart” is one amazing and memorable example. As we look back through the historical archives at Gambino’s 75 years serving Louisiana, it is immediately…

  • A Cake Made for the Kings of New Orleans Newspapers

    A Cake Made for the Kings of New Orleans Newspapers

    Gambino’s Bakery is proud that our creations are at the center of so many celebrations. In researching our history, we were excited to find that a major moment in local newspaper history featured our cakes, as well. The history of newspapers in New Orleans can be tough to follow. Back in 1837, local businessmen George…

  • A Racehorse That Was as Fresh as Gambino’s!

    A Racehorse That Was as Fresh as Gambino’s!

    Springtime is the Louisiana Derby, one of the country’s most popular horse races, and a key competition on the road to the iconic Kentucky Derby. In 1994, a champion racehorse from Lake Charles and a local rock legend resulted in an unexpected nod to Gambino’s Bakery! When we began looking through old Louisiana newspaper archives…

  • Tutti, Gambino’s most colorful customer, goes missing!

    Tutti, Gambino’s most colorful customer, goes missing!

    Next door to our Baton Rouge bakery lived a beautiful, two-foot-tall macaw named Tutti. The rare parrot was valued at $3,000 in 1992 and was kidnapped that year. This is the harrowing tale of how Tutti was recovered. One of the most enjoyable aspects of our 75th anniversary has been rediscovering three-quarters-of-a-century worth of stories!…

  • Home Sweet Home: Gambino’s Locations Over the Last 75 Years

    Home Sweet Home: Gambino’s Locations Over the Last 75 Years

    As part of our 75th anniversary, we’re digging through the archives to find everything we can about our history. In the process, we’re learning things even we had lost to time! Today, we’re looking at all of the locations that Joe Gambino’s Bakery has occupied in Louisiana since its founding in 1949. We wanted to…

  • How 75 Years of Help Wanted Ads Tell the Story of Gambino’s and the Wider World

    How 75 Years of Help Wanted Ads Tell the Story of Gambino’s and the Wider World

    In celebrating the 75th Anniversary of Joe Gambino’s Bakery, we scoured local newspaper archives to see what we could learn about our past. One window into that past was through Help Wanted ads. They tell us a lot about our bakery, as well as how much our world has changed these last seven-and-a-half decades. It’s…

  • The New Orleans Bridge That Has Spanned Bayou St. John for More Than a Century

    The New Orleans Bridge That Has Spanned Bayou St. John for More Than a Century

    Whether you call it Magnolia Bridge, Cabrini Bridge, Bayou Bridge, or Old Bayou Bridge, this is the story of the beautiful blue structure that has spanned Bayou St. John and several generations of Louisiana residents. If you spend time around Bayou St. John, you most likely have noticed Magnolia Bridge. Blue and beautiful, it’s also…

  • How the Horses in City Park’s Famous Carousel Learned to Fly

    How the Horses in City Park’s Famous Carousel Learned to Fly

    As the weather cools down, New Orleanians everywhere can finally return to outdoor activities! City Park is a favorite with more than 16 Million visits annually. The 20th most visited park in America has tons to do. A walk through the peaceful Couturie Forest. A kayak on beautiful Bayou Metairie. A round or two of mini-golf…

  • Madame X: The New Orleans Mona Lisa Who Created Scandal in Paris

    Madame X: The New Orleans Mona Lisa Who Created Scandal in Paris

    Surely there are loads of New Orleanians counted among New York City’s 8.5 million residents. But I’d bet few, if any, are so scandalous as Madame X. To be fair, she doesn’t live in New York. She doesn’t live anywhere, actually. She passed away on July 25 of 1915. But a painting of the controversial…

  • Discovering Relics from the 1884 World’s Fair Inside and Outside New Orleans

    Discovering Relics from the 1884 World’s Fair Inside and Outside New Orleans

    Recently, we wrote a blog post about the 1984 New Orleans World’s Fair, known more formally as the 1984 Louisiana World Exposition. If you talk to New Orleanians who were in the city during that time, the six-month-long event was a memorable one. In fact, you can still find relics — both in New Orleans…

  • Demourelles Island: The Story of New Orleans’ Little-Known Island on Bayou St. John

    Demourelles Island: The Story of New Orleans’ Little-Known Island on Bayou St. John

    You most definitely know about Bayou St. John. It’s one of New Orleans’ treasures, a sanctuary along which you can sit with friends for a drink, jog, or — if the season’s right — maybe even boil some crawfish. But did you know Bayou St. John is also home to an island, called Demourelles Island,…