Bayou Banquet
by
Tis the season. Crawfish season, that is. And shrimp. And really, it’s always crab season here in Louisiana. Growing up in New Orleans, there are many things I took for granted and many things it seems my family actively sought to avoid. But one Louisiana thing my family has always embraced is its seafood.
All of my childhood summers were peppered with crab boils, crawfish boils, shrimp boils. There is something that draws me to the formality involved in a boil, the ritualistic element: there’s the special large pot and burner, the paddle, the strainer basket, the spices, the vegetables, and, of course, the seafood. Oh, and the large-handled spoon. The spoon! The spoon that is used to dip into the searing hot liquid to taste for spiciness while the seafood is boiling.
What I have tasted from the hand of my grandfather, father, uncles and brothers from that spoon–truly boiling, smoking hot spiced juices. This is HEAVEN to me. I once drank cups of this at a time (back when I didn’t know what sodium was). Oh, me.
YatPundit changed his avatar on Twitter to a long metal spatula holding a crawfish over a boiling pot. That image is so iconic in New Orleans. How iconic? Well, it reminded me of a puzzle I had growing up, a puzzle I still own and still build from time to time. A puzzle purchased by my mother from D.H. Holmes Department Store. I give you, “Bayou Banquet”:
I LOVE this picture! It is so representative of Louisiana food and particularly a seafood boil: boiled crabs, shrimp, crawfish; lemons and vegetables to add to a good boil; oysters on the half-shell and stuffed peppers; cocktail sauce and Dixie beer; the Times-Picayune newspaper to cover the table; the notable Louisiana spices; the seafood basket and net; and French bread and gumbo. How can you not want to live in a place where this is standard fare on a warm summer night?
For those of you here in NOLA that still call Dillards Holmeses out of habit, I leave for you this picture of the side of the puzzle box:
that is just so cool! i might use that pic as my laptop’s background while i’m in baltimore next week
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very cool. I am jealous of course!
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Seriously, you’re just being mean when you show/write stuff like that! Crawfish, how I miss thee. I’m eating 10 lbs when I get home.
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Very cool. I discovered that I do not like crawfish in the shell, but I’ve yet to meet a shrimp I don’t like.
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Oh, I totally forgot about DH Holmes–too funny!! I so miss the eating in NOLA, I get homesick reading your blog! ha. I live in FL now, and can NOT find good seafood here…(they think seafood is fish in Florida–um no people!!)
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I just realized I am missing a crawfish boil right now. Good thing there is one tomorrow night.
I used to have a set of Old Fashion glasses from Holmeses with New Orleans scenes on them. And for years, my favorite coffee mug was a Holmes mug, with a picture of Daniel Henry Holmes on his horse-drawn wagon, selling his wares before he set up his store on Canal Street.
I want to dive right onto that table!!
Happy Mother’s Day! Enjoy.
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Hello, I am new to your blog.
I was in NOLA last week on business, I live an hour away and while I still had money in the meter, I stopped at Central Grocery. $150 later. Some things never change.
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i need that food right now!! SHARE!!
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I have a friend from LA who would invite us to Thanksgiving dinner. Some of the most awesome food I’ve ever had. Until then I never thought of crawfish as a holiday menu item. I still can’t ‘suck the heads’ though…. ewww.
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Oh yum! I’ve been cursed though…I’ve developed a seafood allergy. It’s pure hell.
Tis the season-enjoy!
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My brother would like this post. I don’t like crawfish (gasp! I know, it’s sad but I do love other seafood!!) but he does and he will face them on the plate after he’s done eating them so they look like they’re staring at me. It’s creepy:)
Yum!!! I bet our crab boils here in Ohio don’t quite compare.
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That is the absolute coolest puzzle ever. I remember my Mom going to D.H. Holmes when I was a kid to buy patches for my Brownie uniform. I’m finally returning home in a couple of days and I am SET for my crawfish boil this coming weekend. I’ve been having dreams about it, it’s horrible.
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That all sounds so delicious. “Back when I didn’t know what sodium was”- hilarious
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When I saw your post I looked above my computer at the same image hanging there and smiled. I have that puzzle as well. I liked it so much that I framed it when it was done. I have also have some crawfish trays with Bayou Banquet on them.
Bayou Banquet!! I know a lot about this painting. I was in charge of development of this product at D.H. Holmes back in 1983. This art has been reproduced on numerous items; trays, puzzles, glassware, coasters, poster, cookbook, etc. The artist is Joyce Hensley, a freelance artist that worked in the advertising department of Holmes. This was created for the time of the 1984 World’s Fair. Many other items with New Orleans and seafood designs were also made at the same period. Even after 25 years it still gets many comments and brings back thoughts of New Orleans and Louisiana.
I have this very same puzzle. Still in the box with the wrapping still on it. Somehow, over the years — I just could not part with it! The childhood picture is still fresh in my mind of crawfish boils at Grandma & Grampa’s house in Algiers! I can smell the boil, and remember my dad, grampa & uncles standing around the pot drinking their Dixie Beer on Sundays. I’d go in to the kitchen that was at the back of their shotgun house & help Grandma & my Aunts make real mayonaise and fixins for the potato salad & we’d all enjoy the breeze from the kitchen window fan. When the boil was done, my job was to put the newspaper on the picnic table made by Grandpa, & my brother would bring out the chairs. We’d all sit in the shade under the garage door & feast on crawfish & fixins. My brother & I then would ride bikes around and around the shot gun double, and jump off the porches til we couldn’t stand up anymore! After that, when the mosquitos came, it was cards at the Kitchen Table! Those were the days!
Does anyone know someone with a copy of that cookbook for sale? I would love to buy it. I’d also like to get the candy recipe for the hulks, the pecan eggs and the meltaways that they used to make. My aunt worked for D.H. Holmes for 15 years in the candy dept but neglected to write down the recipes. I would love to make these for my kids..they have no idea of what they missed!! Anyone?
Bought my third copy of the puzzle last week, unopened. Would love to have the painting or a print. I remember our weekend shopping trips to New Orleans as a child, going to Holmes and later, taking my children. Even though I was still in New Orleans in ’84, and attended the World’s Fair often, I didnt see this print till I was in a Cajun Rest. in Jackson Hole Wyoming. They wouldnt sell it. Healls the soul to have a little piece of you heritage recovered. Although my second copy went swoosh in my parents home during Katrina, my first hangs proudly on my son’s wall.
Does anyone know where I may be able to purchase the puzzle or painting? Thanks
Anyone willing to part with one of the Bayou Banquet trays please email me. My daughter found one before I did in an antique mall on Magazine street this week. I’d love to have one to hang in my kitchen.
I would love to know where I can purchase one of these puzzles. After Katrina I live somewhere else and would love to have one.
i need to find a numbered poster of this 1983 holmes picture to go with my puzzle, tray, cups, etc. any ideas? the name of the artest might help. thanks
Hi all,
The artist in question of “Bayou Banquet” is my mother, Joyce Hensley! I know this puzzle very well. She did the painting when I was just a baby, and it seems like this puzzle has had a life of its own! I showed my mom this blog posting that I had stumbled upon, and she was thrilled with the enthusiastic responses to her work. The painting has been one of her most popular pieces!
She has a website which we’ve just launched — http://www.joycehensley.com. Check it out!
Best, Catherine Hensley
I used to work at D.H. Holmes. I worked at Lakeside, Lake Forest Plaza, and in the North Shore Plaza. I managed several areas and what I really miss the most is the pecan meltaways. I recently had a piece of candy that reminded me of the meltaways, but i can’t remember where i had it or what it was. When i worked at Lake Forest Plaza, the Bayou Banquet puzzle was a brand new item. They sold it along with those great gumbo bowls and crawfish trays (round trays with about a 1 1/2 inch lip all the way around with the same picture that is on the puzzle). I miss those too!
I have this puzzle? I wanted to put it together, epoxy it and have it framed. I came across your blog while looking for a estimate on how much this puzzle is worth. In this economy I may have to sell off some of my collectibles. I have the D. H. Holmes gumbo bowls and salad plates with the crabs on them. Nice to see someone else has the same love of D. H. Holmes. My grandmother worked in the fabric department (then called piece goods) for 25 years and then worked at Kraus for 5 until she retired and took the bus from Gentilly every day. We used to go downtown to the doctor and then visit our grandmother and of course get a chocolate malt at the the drugstore.
I have the picture (print) 193/750 . It is in my kitchen and I have always loved it. I wonder what it is worth right now… I had the puzzle, but loaned it out…..
Henry, You have the connections and, I am sure, the original artwork for Bayou Banquet. I know you could sell a Pot Load of trays puzzles glasses, gumbo bowls , etc with that print. Did Dillards buy the right to that as well? Damn it a gold mine waiting to be tapped! Go for it!
Hi. I have tray that I bought at a thrift shop several years ago and it is sort of a blue green color, I found another yesterday that looks just like your puzzle again at a resale store. I have been scouring the net forever trying to get an idea of it’s value (not that my husband would let me) If anyone has any idea please let me know?