Posted on 12/11/2016 12:32:16 PM PST by BBell
There has been considerable debate about "The House of the Rising Sun," an old folk song made famous by the Animals in 1964. Was it based on an actual establishment in New Orleans? Was the Rising Sun a brothel or gambling house or penitentiary? And where was it?
I don't have definitive answers to those questions, but I do have a new location to consider.
"The public is respectfully informed that the old establishment of the Rising Sun is reopened under the name of Mechanic's Hotel, where may be had all kinds of refreshments; there is an ordinary every day at 12 o'clock, at one dollar per person. Separate rooms are provided for private parties. The bar is well supplied with excellent liquors, and at half the customary price."
One theory holds that the House of the Rising Sun was a real place, a house of ill repute on Conti Street in the French Quarter. Another version places it on Ursulines Street. Still another has it on St. Louis Street.
But what if the Rising Sun were outside the city proper?
In the summer of 1828, the French- and English-language L'Abeille newspaper began running a small advertisement announcing that a well-known local business had been rebranded. "To those who visit the lake," the note was addressed. (In the French version of the ad published in the same issues, the opening was rendered as ""Aux amateurs du lac.")
(Excerpt) Read more at nola.com ...
THanks for the info!
a great song...
but i am probably too old to visit the place/
alas!
Might make sense. The writer speculates that if it were outside the city, it likely catered to an upscale crowd.
But not necessarily. It might well have catered to Hoosiers and others who loaded boats upstream and brought their boats down the Mississippi, returning up via the Natchez Trace.
They would have been paid for their goods in New Orleans and pockets full of money, started back north. A house of ill repute might well have done good business as the first stop on the way back.
So, it’s way out in the middle of nowhere where no one is likely to bother the clientele. All hush, hush for the upper crust. Nooners for a dollar. Rooms for private parties. All sorts of, cough, refreshments. The ruin of many a good boy?
Bet they served pizza.
You talking about my wife? You’d be right :)
This song has actually been traced back a LONG way, even to 16th century England, I think!!
At least the main theme, if not the actual name.
You got to love the suits and ties that the bands used to wear back in the 60’s.
Absolutely!
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