Hey Blake,
The building at 3625 Canal St. that houses Mid-City Smiles Family Dentistry has a very ornate façade, which leads me to believe there’s a story to it. What can you tell me about its history?
Dear reader,
The dental office building at Canal and Telemachus streets is from the 1970s, but the striking Italian marble façade you noticed dates to the early 20th century — and a different building.
Two statues (representing Commerce and Industry), the pediment and other ornamental elements were originally located on the façade of a building at 740 Gravier St. It was built in 1906 as headquarters of the New Orleans Stock Exchange.
In 1955, the Home Building and Loan Association purchased the Gravier Street building and moved its headquarters there. In 1967, the name changed to Home Savings and Loan Association.
Commerce and Industry are the two pieces of statuary that make up the grand facade of Italian Marble, with the French Renaissance look that for so long looked down on passersby at 740 Gravier, originally the New Orleans Stock Exchange Building. But in more recent years the old building on Gravier was owned by Home Savings and Loan Association (since 1955). When the firm decided to move to new quarters at 3625 Canal it seemed appropriate to take the old facade, a two-story high blanket of stone with fancy handicraft, dentils and laurel wreaths, a laced window section and the two statues. Attention was thrust upon the statues, however, when they became known as Ralph and Shirley in the savings’ firms advertising.
In the late 1960s and early 1970s, newspaper ads for the savings and loan nicknamed the building’s two statues Ralph and Shirley and used them in a contest.
“They’ve seen enough and heard enough to fill a library of books…. If you were in their spot, what would you have to say about it all?” A panel of judges — including cartoonist John Chase, Times-Picayune columnist Howard Jacobs and radio hosts Roy “Nut” Roberts and Jeff Hug — awarded cash prizes and savings accounts for the funniest or most clever entries.
In 1976, Home Savings and Loan began construction on a new office in the 3600 block of Canal Street, formerly the site of two residences. The association relocated the Gravier façade to their new offices on Canal.
“It’s no ordinary front they’re taking with them. This one is a special work of art, the product of another time,” explained The Times-Picayune in March 1976. An April 1978 article stated that it took 6,000 pounds of pressure on a hydraulic crane to remove the façade over nine months, concluding with the relocation of the “Ralph and Shirley” statues.
Vincent Taormina and Joseph Uddo formed the company in 1925.
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