First, I want to thank all you patient Eggheads who have patiently waited for the February post, which has now become the March post. I wanted to get the best possible sources of information and tap expertise available to me, which sometimes takes longer than one first assumes. But it is always worth it in the end, as I hope you will agree with by the end of this post.

Public History first developed in c. 1970s as a result of an over-abundance of PhD level historians and not enough traditional academic positions available to employ this glut of History geeks. So the field of history got creative and combined with other movements, such as peoples' history, cultural history and social history, thus introducing a new way to examine our own past and extend an awareness of historical knowledge to the mythical, everyday common man. It is not traditional history that focuses on "Great Men," like President John F. Kennedy or major political events such as World War II.

But what is public history? There are many different ways to describe public history but the following definitions are something of a majority rules definition. According to Emma Wilmer of the Public History Resource Center, "Public history is history, practically applied." Robert Weible, in his essay, "Defining Public History: Is it Possible? Is it Necessary?" found at the American Historical Association website states, ". . . a majority just defines the field by the workplace: academic history, they assume, is practiced within the university, public history elsewhere." The National Council on Public History, in an essay, "What is Public History," defines public history as, ". . . history that is applied to real-world issues."

Alison Twells, in her 2008 essay, "Community History," defines peoples' history as a ". . . the belief that all histories should be acknowledged as History;" Historylink.org identifies a key feature of peoples' history as a reliance on primary source materials, oral histories and eyewitness accounts. According to Raphael Samuel in his article "What is Social History?," social history, ". . . prides itself on being concerned with 'real life' rather than abstractions, with 'ordinary' people rather than privileged elites, with everyday things rather than sensational events." ". . . cultural history can be exercised in every field of activity: politics, economics, kinship, gender, religion and all their interlocking and overlapping domains," writes Miri Rubin of the Institute of Historical Research.

I am sure you are wondering how ArtEgg's history comes into play with these various strains of historical practice. At its most basic, ArtEgg is public history practiced outside the academy. As well, "real-world issues," come into play when considering hurricane Katrina and its effects on ArtEgg and its tenants. Additionally, ArtEgg as a peoples' history adds to the overall body of knowledge of the city of New Orleans, which is capital "H" history. Too, these essays that have been presented in past posts are largely based on primary source materials, including oral interviews, newspaper articles and maps. These primary sources will be the star of the ArtEgg history.

It is also a social history. With the property having hosted not just one, but two grocers, (H. G. Hill and Loubat-L. Frank), square 596 provides a lens to examine the shift in "making groceries" from a market-based supply to the modern mass-produced grocery stores. It is hard to think of a more "everyday thing" than grocery shopping.

This particular factor also shades the ArtEgg history into cultural history, which will examine the intersections of transportation, food production, and economics. Professor Michael Mizell-Nelson of the University of New Orleans points out that the proximity of the L & N railroad proved instrumental in the growth of commercial grocery stores. Philip Frank states that the frozen turkeys would be brought straight from the train, (which ran directly alongside the building). Currently, this set of tracks referred to by Frank is not in use, though the nearby Union Passenger Terminal Line is still utilized today. Further investigation is needed to determine if the defunct rail line is a remnant of the Louisville and Nashville railroad.

Professor Michael Mizell-Nelson, of the University of New Orleans maintains that, "This once essential industrial corridor needs to have its history researched and made public. The histories of those buildings deserve to be researched and shared, even if well-heeled visitors to New Orleans will never encounter them." Further, Mizell-Nelson asserts, "It's refreshing to find an art space whose patrons and community of artists delve deep into the history. I hope that the ArtEgg history project becomes a replicable model for similar art spaces."

Originally, ArtEgg Studios was owned by Mrs. V. Hill Penich and her husband Bill Penick and used as a warehouse for H.G. Hill Stores. In 1964, it was sold to L. Frank & Co. (est. 1892), the region’s major produce wholesaler featuring American Beauty Butter and Eggs. The original American Beauty advertisements on the side of the building and the prominent front flagpole remain as a tribute to the grand old building’s history In March 2002, Caro Foods, the current distributor of American Beauty products, restored several of the original signs lining the building to maintain with the building’s new theme and artisanship. American Beauty’s “Everybody Loves a Good Egg,” sign can be seen from the Broad Street overpass and remains the motto for ArtEgg Studios.

On November 8, 2012 at the ArtEgg lecture I gave at the Cabildo, I had the goodfortunate to make the acquaintance of Mr. Philip “Flip” Frank, Jr., the grandson of CharlesFrank, the owner of L. Frank and Company, who purchased the building c. 1964. Flipintroduced himself prior to my lecture and told me how the company got its slogan, “EverybodyLoves a Good Egg.” I ended up including Flip in my lecture, inviting him to the podium to tell the audience the story of the slogan during the course of my presentation. I was fortunate enough to arrange an interview with Flip, where we met at ArtEgg Studios on December 19,2012.

Flip began working for his family’s company around the age of ten or eleven, when he would come in on weekends and holidays to help with “Simple little things. . .” like taking weights, where cases of products, such as chickens, were labeled with the varying weights of each pallet. Charles Frank moved his operation, L. Frank, from its prior location at Poydras and Tchoupitoulas to Square 596, when Flip was fourteen.
When the company moved its operations, Flip would be dropped off by his father, Philip,Sr., at 1001 S. Broad and would do a variety of tasks from tearing out walls to hauling trash.The building, a former tomato warehouse, had been vacant at the time of purchase. Flip recalls barrels of rotten tomatoes left on the loading dock, “. . . that smelled pretty bad.” Flip remembers how his mother would place newspaper on the back seat of the car before Flip got into the car, “. . . because I’d be so dirty.”

Upon taking possession, the building underwent some renovation, with offices added and at least one cooler added (the “H” room, the current home of Studio 101). Part of the paneled office were still extant when Dr. Dyer took possession of the building. In the “E” room, located in the back of the warehouse, eggs were stored on pallets prior to “candling.” Candling is the process where the grade of the egg is determined, when the egg is passed over a light (formerly a candle, hence the term) and given grades of AA, A, B and so on. Eggs lower than an Agrade were cracked and processed as liquid eggs. After candling, the eggs would go through a further procedure where the eggs “. . . would go over little scales and one would kick out all the jumbo, all the extra-large, all the large, leaving the small. So they’d each go into a different little avenue, where they’d be packaged based on their size.” Flip has a photo of this process of candling, but as it is the property of the Louisiana Department of Agriculture, copyright permission is needed before the photo can be used in this project.

Flip continued to work at the company during the weekends and holiday breaks throughout his schooling, including his years spent at Tulane University where he received his bachelor’s degree in math and economics. After receiving his bachelor’s degree, Flip entered the Navy, continuing a family tradition that saw his grandfather, Charles Frank serving in theMerchant Marines and his uncle, Charles Frank, Jr., and his father, Philip Frank, Sr., serving in the Navy. Flip served in the early 1970s on the East Coast, spending time in the Mediterranean and Northern Europe, working as a communications officer and leaving the service as a Lieutenant.

During his time in the Navy, Flip, while driving through North Carolina, “. . . passed inthe country a little egg farm and they had a sign on the front of it that said, ‘Everybody Loves aGood Egg.’” He brought the slogan to his father, who liked the catch phrase, using it onsignage, packaging, bags, hats and bumper stickers. “We had a whole theme. . .around “Everybody Loves a Good Egg.”” says Flip. According to Flip, “It was an easy thing toremember.” It proved to be a good choice as the phrase is still recognizable today andoccasionally used in ArtEgg projects. )

After leaving the Navy in 1973, Flip joined the company as the sales manager, while attending Tulane at the same time, graduating with his MBA in economics and marketing. Upon his father and uncle’s retirement in 1983, when the company merged with Loubat (becoming Loubat-L. Frank), Flip became Vice President of Sales and Marketing. At the time of the merger, the company decided to do business as “American Beauty,” on the advice of local advertising agency Peter Mayer Advertising, as this name would be more easily recognizable to customers than Loubat-L. Frank.

Flip is a fourth-generation grocery wholesaler, who is currently the Regional Vice President of National Distribution Sales for Ventura Foods. His great grandfather, Leon Frank, first formed L. Frank and Company in 1892. According to Flip, his great grandfather cornered the egg market, not once, but twice, sometime during the 1920s or 1930s, a difficult thing to accomplish.

More of Flip and L. Frank’s story will be found in the manuscript of the history, to be completed by June first of this year. Next month, we’ll be taking a look at the concept of Public History and how it applies to the ArtEgg project.