Social Life in Old New Orleans - Paperback

by Eliza Ripley (Author)

The wonder and beauty of the antebellum South comes alive once again in the memory of Eliza Ripley. Born in 1832, Ripley witnessed firsthand the changing South and lamented the loss of elegant Southern balls and wedding traditions, such as having the ceremony in the house's parlor.

Having spent most of her childhood in New Orleans, Ripley documents every facet of life in New Orleans and along the river, from spring housekeeping to slave narratives. She recounts past journeys on steamboats, which she calls palatials, and her favorite ship, the Grey Eagle, which featured staterooms and a social hall. She remembers the songs her own mother once sang to her and the simple joy of an old wooden rocking chair.

In this memoir, Ripley masterfully creates the New Orleans that existed before the Civil War. Her plain but descriptive language captures the essence of the time and the sweet nostalgia of her memories of a lost era.

Back Jacket

If you feel nostalgic about the days of gorgeous hoop skirts, handsome Southern gentlemen, and exquisite dinners, then you'll love this memoir in which Eliza Ripley takes readers back to antebellum days in New Orleans. Realizing that the times recorded here had drifted away forever, the author purposed to make a record for her progeny of the way things used to be.

Alas, the New Orleans described here exists only on the printed page and in second-hand stories--those who experienced it firsthand are no longer with us.

In their absence, Mrs. Ripley describes everything from boarding schools to old wedding traditions. Such genteel mainstays as the old French Opera house, steamboats, and the lovely, nameless hotel at the gulfside town of Pass Christian, Mississippi, are fondly recalled and vividly described.

New Orleans still retains much of the warm, easy-living feel that was so cherished in antebellum days. So, even today, you will easily appreciate the voyage back to a somehow-familiar time of grandeur and elegance.