Unrecorded Trade Card for a Green Book-Approved Louisiana Hotel

[African Americana]: [Travel]: [Louisiana]: Patterson, J.R.:

The New Patterson Hotel...One of America's Finest Colored Hotels... [caption title].

New Orleans: [ca. 1955]. Photo-illustrated trade card, 2.75 x 6.25 inches. Minor edge wear and toning, horizontal crease, some biopredation to bottom and right portions costing a handful of letters. Good condition. Item #12990

An extraordinary survival from Jim Crow Louisiana, advertising the New Patterson Hotel in New Orleans, owned and operated by John Robert Patterson. The hotel was the first African American-owned hotel in New Orleans, and became one of the most popular during the Green Book era of African American travel. The hotel was located at two different addresses during its years of operation, in which it was routinely listed in the annual publication of The Negro Traveler's Green Book. The present trade card emanates from the hotel's second location at 1815 Bienville Avenue, where the hotel moved in 1954 or 1955; the hotel is listed at its first address on Rampart Street in the 1954 edition and the Bienville location by the time of the Green Book's 1955 edition.

The trade card features two small photographs. At left is an image of the hotel itself, with some promotional slogans beneath, reading "One of America's Finest Colored Hotels and 'New Orleans Most Discriminating,'" and "The 'Very' Best Place to Sleep Away from Home." The right side of the card prints a portrait of J.R. Patterson who is touted for his "Years of Business Experience in Successful Service" and "Nationally and Internationally Known." The center of the card prints information about the hotel, located "In the Heart of Downtown New Orleans Close to Everything," offering "Rooms With Baths" and "Hot and Cold Running Water in Each Room," and with the address and phone number at bottom. The card is similar to the regular newspaper advertisement for the hotel printed in The Louisiana Weekly from 1956 to 1965. We could locate no other copies of this striking trade card for an important African American hotel in New Orleans founded, owned, and operated by a notable local businessman.

Price: $1,250