PRESS + MEDIA
If you want to learn all the adult history New Orleans has to offer and learn, I recommend giving the Storyville Museum a try. Where you can learn about the music and fun but also the secret naughty side of New Orleans they didn't teach in school.
-Ron Anthony, Jr.
IN THE NEWS
October 9, 2024
Local Reporter and Morning News Anchor Morgan Lentes Visits the Museum
Airing on Wednesday, October 9th, the New Orleans Storyville Museum got a close up look during the WDSU-NBC newscast after the anchor visited with the owner.
New Orleans Storyville Museum tells sordid stories of city's past
NEW ORLEANS —
New Orleans' newest museum is now open in the French Quarter.
The New Orleans Storyville Museum tells the sordid tale of the city's redlight district, known as Storyville, which thrived from 1897 to 1917.
Claus Sadlier founded the museum. "Vice was running rampant, and they needed a way of taking it (out of) all the neighborhoods and trying to put it in a confined area, which they could control," Sadlier said.
Storyville was known for gambling, saloons and brothels, which Sadlier said were frequented by men working on the Mississippi River.
"(It was) a Disney Land for adults," Sadlier said. "It was World War I that ended up sort of putting the nail in the coffin for Storyville."
There are several exhibits in the museum, featuring artifacts, holograms and sets.
IN THE MEDIA
October 6, 2024
Listen to "Episode 199:
Claus Sadlier's Storyville"
Give a listen to the latest episode of Louisiana Life Podcast by Louisiana Life Magazine, a superlative guide to a great state's destinations, hosted by Errol Laborde, Executive Editor of Louisiana Life Magazine as he interviews Claus Sadlier about the immersive experience of the New Orleans Storyville Museum.
Episode 199: Claus Sadlier’s Storyville – An Immersive Experience
You have heard of Basin Street and its blues? Well intersecting that street on the edge of New Orleans’ French Quarter is “Conti,” a street that was part of the neighborhood that gave Basin its reputation because of the surrounding Storyville red-light district.
Storyville has been closed since 1917 but now there is a great new museum that creates an immersive journey into the city’s, and the district’s, past.
Claus Sadlier, the owner/curator of the New Orleans Storyville Museum, joins Louisiana Life Executive Editor Errol Laborde, and podcast producer Kelly Massicot, to discuss the museum including its virtual visuals, holograms, videos, vintage photographs, narrations and artifacts. Sadlier is also a compelling storyteller with tales to tell about the district – including the music actually played in the bordellos. It wasn’t just the blues.
IN SOCIAL MEDIA
October 4, 2024
Take a Tour with Morgus & his Amazing Dog, Quinn!
Take a tour with Morgus and his amazing pup Quinn through the New Orleans Storyville Museum and through various cemeteries showcasing where some of those mentioned within the museum lay to rest!
IN SOCIAL MEDIA
September 27, 2024
A Stroll Through Storyville
Take a walk through a brand new immersive journey through #neworleans storied and sinful history! #nola #thingstodoinneworleans #museum #hurricane #nolastoryville #storyville #redlight
IN SOCIAL MEDIA
September 24, 2024
TikTok Superstar Cajun Dan
Goes Deep in Storyville
Cajun Dan (drz400dan2) takes a stroll through the museum to show his many followers the exhibits.
IN SOCIAL MEDIA
September 23, 2024
Insta Influence Tours the Storyville Museum
Quinn L. Bishop (@quinnlbishop)
History Educator & Tarot Reader Reviews the Museum!
IN THE NEWS
September 23, 2024
New Orleans Storyville Museum now open in French Quarter
The New Orleans-born inventor of the paper coffee cup has opened a new French Quarter museum examining the city's history with prostitution, gambling and alcohol.
Why it matters: You can't make this stuff up.
The latest: The New Orleans Storyville Museum is now open, named for the infamous red light district that once sat behind the French Quarter.
The big picture: "New Orleans was the gambling capital of America, the drinking capital of America, and the prostitution capital of America," says museum creator and curator Claus Sadlier. "But the museum is really about the storied past of New Orleans told in an interesting way."
Flashback: The neighborhood was founded in 1897 as an attempt by alderman Sidney Story to shove New Orleans' grittiest vices into just one corner of the city.
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If you can't beat 'em, the thinking went, at least try to manage 'em.
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Some residents with a solid sense of humor borrowed Story's name as a moniker for the neighborhood, which stuck to this day.
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The Storyville experiment managed to last two decades, according to New Orleans' history website A Closer Walk, while it filled with high-end brothels, rollicking nightclubs and gambling dens.
Zoom in: The new museum is a "passion project" for Sadlier, whose claim to fame and fortune is that, in the late 1990s, he invented the paper coffee cup.
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At the time, he was living in San Francisco and watching the specialty coffee craze take hold as plastic foam cups fell out of favor. Sadlier realized a single-walled paper coffee cup wasn't going to cut it
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Eventually, he built a company around his invention and sold it to Dixie Cup for $170 million in 2006
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Another invention and company followed, Covermate, which he sold in 2012
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He moved home to New Orleans the next year and bought a house in the French Quarter. See inside.
"It was always a dream as a child because we spent family Sundays going to Cafe du Monde and my father would show me the architecture," Sadlier tells Axios New Orleans.
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After moving there, Sadlier, knowing he was ready to start a new business, started reading more about the neighborhood's history
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"The more I got into it, the more obvious it became," he says.
Inside the room: The museum begins its story with the city's founding and winds through rooms of photographs, videos and sets, including the recreation of a saloon complete with holograms of women in period dress.
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But the displays don't shy away from Storyville's often difficult reality, Sadlier says, with panels that focus on birth control and abortion attempts
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Artifacts range from 200-year-old coins and weapons used in the Battle of New Orleans to original copies of "Blue Book" brothel directories, and peep show and gambling machines.
If you go: The New Orleans Storyville Museum is located at 1010 Conti St.
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Visitors must be at least 18 years old.
IN SOCIAL MEDIA
September 21, 2024
TikTok Influence Reveals the Naughty Side of NOLA
Caitlin Orellana (@colorbycaitlin)
Explores the New Orleans Storyville Museum
IN THE NEWS
September 19, 2024
Newly opened Storyville Museum tells early, ‘sinful’ history of New Orleans
Move over Las Vegas; there’s another ‘Sin City’ with a history of gambling, prostitution, music and entertainment. And the stories behind those raucous times at the turn of the 20th century is on full display at the New Orleans Storyville Museum, which has opened in the French Quarter.
New Orleans native, Brother Martin and UNO graduate Claus Sadlier has opened a 7,000-square-foot interactive museum at 1010 Conti St. to tell the history of the red-light district known as Storyville – a neighborhood that operated in New Orleans from 1897 until 1917. The district was conceived by councilman Sidney Story to clean up prostitution from most neighborhoods in the city and confine it to a district that could be more easily contained and controlled.
“At the New Orleans Storyville Museum, we are committed to entertaining educating and informing,” said Sadlier. “Our exhibits not only shine light on the social and economic impacts of the Storyville District but also celebrate the cultural heritage that makes New Orleans unique.”
Sadlier left New Orleans in the 1990s to pursue various business ventures in San Francisco. Among his accomplishments, he invented and commercialized the world’s first insulated paper coffee cup and built it into a successful business, which he ultimately sold to Dixie Cup for $170 million. In 2013, Sadlier returned to New Orleans to live in the French Quarter. He said once he returned, he started to read about the city’s history and became intrigued about Storyville.
The museum tells the whole story beginning with the city’s founding in 1718, continuing through its the golden age of vice in the 1800s and culminating with the establishment of the Storyville district in the early 1900s.
“When I moved back, I started to read books about the sinful history of New Orleans and thought it was fascinating,” he said. “I thought ‘Wow, what an amazing idea for a museum to be dedicated to telling this incredible story as it unfolded.’”
The New Orleans Storyville Museum is open to the public Thursday through Sunday, from 10:00 a.m. to 6 p.m., with an admission price of $31.50. Patrons must be 18 or older to enter.
IN SOCIAL MEDIA
September 18, 2024
Local Social Media Influence Captures His First Visit
Ron Anthony, Jr. (@ronorleans)
Experiences the New Orleans Storyville Museum
IN THE NEWS
September 17, 2024
New Orleans Storyville Museum Opens in French Quarter
Holograms, rare relics part of immersive experience
New Orleans, LA – A new, interactive museum that explores the colorful and storied past of New Orleans is now open in the French Quarter. The New Orleans Storyville Museum, which opened last week at 1010 Conti Street, is 7,000 square feet of vibrant exhibits that showcase the rich cultural heritage of New Orleans and its infamous red-light district known as Storyville.
Storyville was a raucous neighborhood of music, entertainment, gambling, and prostitution that operated in New Orleans from 1897 until 1917. The district was conceived by councilman Sidney Story to clean up prostitution from most neighborhoods in the city and confine it to a district that could be more easily contained and controlled.
The New Orleans Storyville Museum is a passion project for founder and lead curator Claus Sadlier, a successful entrepreneur and New Orleans native. After graduating from Brother Martin High School and the University of New Orleans, Sadlier left the city in the early 90s to pursue his fortune in San Francisco. Among his accomplishments, he invented and commercialized the world’s first insulated paper coffee cup and built it into a successful business, which he ultimately sold to Dixie Cup for $170 million. But Sadlier’s heart was always in New Orleans, and he returned to his roots in 2013, making his residence in the French Quarter.
Once he returned, Sadlier became fascinated with the city’s unique and storied past. “When I moved back, I started to read books about the sinful history of New Orleans and thought it was fascinating,” says Sadlier. It’s a story that starts with the city’s founding in 1718, continues through its the golden age of vice in the 1800s and culminates with the establishment of the Storyville district in the early 1900s. “I thought wow, what an amazing idea for a museum to be dedicated to telling this incredible story as it unfolded.”
Museum highlights include immersive sets, engaging videos and hyper-realistic holograms created by local artists and theater professionals. A dedicated section on the early history of jazz and a gallery featuring E.J. Bellocq's poignant photographs from Storyville illustrate the complex narratives that shaped this extraordinary era.
“At the New Orleans Storyville Museum, we are committed to entertaining educating and informing,” said Sadlier. “Our exhibits not only shine light on the social and economic impacts of the Storyville District but also celebrate the cultural heritage that makes New Orleans unique.”
The museum is now open to the public Thursday through Sunday, from 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM. Admission is $31.50, and you must be 18 or older to enter. For tickets and information, please visit nolastoryville.com