Hey Blake,
I love vintage signs, and I am wondering about the one for the Orleans Steel Products Company on Bienville Street in the French Quarter. What do you know about it?
The Orleans Steel Products Company — whose sign remains outside its former home at 1025 Bienville — and its parent company, Holzer Sheet Metal Works, were located in the French Quarter for nearly 125 years.
Swiss tinsmith Rudolph G. Holzer immigrated to the U.S. in 1871, setting up shop on N. Rampart Street. His early work included manufacturing metal ice buckets and milk jugs. By 1900, he had moved to 317 Burgundy St. Its sister company, Orleans Steel Products, opened around the corner on Bienville Street in 1919. Holzer died in 1924 and his wife Magdalene and four sons carried on the business…