08/21/2025
The historical archives are full of interesting poboy stories, articles, advertisements, and photos. This "New Orleans Item" article, for example, is from January 30, 1931 -- less than a year and a half after the "poor boy sandwich" was first mentioned in print.
It was the Great Depression and sailors were having a difficult time finding work. Hundreds of them would visit the offices of the Shipping Board on Decatur Street in the French Quarter each morning and wait all day, hopeful they would receive an assignment on a departing ship. During those years, they never did, so they would sit hungry.
Next door to the Shipping Board was a shop, M. Streiffer & Sons, Inc. During the prosperous times of previous decades, the business made a fortune selling goods to departing seamen. The store was owned by 62-year-old Moritz Streiffer, a Romanian sailor. He had arrived in New Orleans during a voyage in the 1890s and decided to stay.
During the Depression, Streiffer couldn't stand to see his customers struggling without work, money, or food, so every day at 11 a.m. he invited them to line up for a free poor boy sandwich on him. The article says he wanted to keep it a secret so as not to make the men feel embarrassed, but eventually, a reporter learned what was happening.
In the photo, Moritz is the mustachioed man in the middle. In front of him is a giant pile of poboys. I wonder what kind.
The Big Book of Po'boy will include plenty of history, and I plan on including some of that here. Thanks for reading!
*
*
*
*
*
