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NOLA Life Stories: Dancing The Night Away At The Dew Drop Inn

WWNO - New Orleans Public Radio | By Thomas Walsh,
Mark Cave
Published November 11, 2015 at 6:00 AM EST
A couple dances the Jitterbug in 1939, a year after The Dew Drop Inn opened in New Orleans.
Marion Post Wolcott
/
Library of Congress
A couple dances the Jitterbug in 1939, a year after The Dew Drop Inn opened in New Orleans.
A couple dances the Jitterbug in 1939, a year after The Dew Drop Inn opened in New Orleans.
Credit Marion Post Wolcott / Library of Congress
/
Library of Congress
A couple dances the Jitterbug in 1939, a year after The Dew Drop Inn opened in New Orleans.

Click here for Frank Painia's life story.

The historic Dew Drop Inn in Central City is in the midst of a revival. For many years it was the hot spot in the Jim Crow South where guests could catch a show, grab a sandwich, spend a night, and even get a haircut.

And it was all because of one man: Frank Painia, a barber by trade who knew how to give people exactly what they wanted. On this edition ofNola Life Stories,we turn to Kenneth Jackson for a remembrance of his grandfather -- the man behind the fabled venue.    

Donations are being accepted to help revive the Dew Drop Inn. This interview was conducted by Mark Cave for the Historic New Orleans Collection.

NOLA Life Stories: Dancing The Night Away At The Dew Drop Inn

Click for another tale from the Dew Drop Inn, this time from one of its most popular emcees named Patsy Vidalia.

Copyright 2015 WWNO - New Orleans Public Radio
Louisiana News
Thomas Walsh
Thomas Walsh is an independent radio producer for WWNO. Each week he works to produce new editions of Louisiana Eats and All Things New Orleans, as well as Notes From New Orleans, The Farmer's Market Minute, and The Green Minute. Outside WWNO, Thomas is a volunteer disc jockey for WTUL, where he hosts a weekly live four-hour program broadcasting twentieth century classical music. Thomas has four years experience in audio engineering, and a BA from Trinity University in San Antonio where he double majored in communications and philosophy. Someday he will give away his entire collection of Grateful Dead concerts, which has swelled to unnecessary proportions in recent years.
See stories by Thomas Walsh
Mark Cave