New Orleans from 1900-1920

Nationally, it was an era of explosive growth and quality-of-life improvements. Transportation became more accessible; indoor plumbing, gas, and electrical service transformed and civilized life. Pre-World War I New Orleans prospered as well, largely due to the invention of the Wood screw pump. The pump cleared water from marshy, undeveloped land, enabling New Orleans to stretch its geographic boundaries into the suburban neighborhoods of Lakeview, Mid-City, and Gentilly. Signature sounds of New Orleans filled the air, from the bustle of workmen in the riverfront cotton warehouses and grain elevators to the steam whistle of the Smoky Mary as she chugged her way across the tracks from the Mississippi River to Lake Pontchartrain. Jazz music wafted from French Quarter windows, and children's giggles emanated from lakefront and urban amusement parks. Mary Lou Widmer's family accounts of the first two decades of the twentieth century present this recent history in a way that brings back fond memories on a long walk down memory lane. Mary Lou Widmer has authored this acclaimed series of books that looks into New Orleans' past in a way that is at once personal and historic. Previous Pelican books in the series are: New Orleans in the Twenties, New Orleans in the Thirties, New Orleans in the Forties, New Orleans in the Fifties, and New Orleans in the Sixties.Widmer, Mary Lou is the author of 'New Orleans from 1900-1920 ', published 2007 under ISBN 9781589804012 and ISBN 1589804015.