Mary Hansen, 'The Snowball Lady', 95
Louisiana Lou
Mary Hansen was a sweet woman, in more ways than one. And thousands of
customers will miss her cheerful presence at the Sno-Bliz stand she and
her husband started in the 1930s.
Wednesday, December 07, 2005
Angus Lind
It really wasn't a business; it was an extended family, and a devoted one.
What Mary and Ernest Hansen began for good in 1939 proved once and for
all that the structure isn't what makes something popular, it's the
people who run it, the product and the customers they attract.
For 61 years, Hansen's Sno-Bliz snowball stand at 4801 Tchoupitoulas
St., at the corner of Bordeaux, has stood tall in this city, a shining
monument to dedication, an unmatched old-fashioned work ethic, and two
of the friendliest people you'll ever meet.
Mary's homemade syrups were so good that they posed a constant dilemma
for customers: Would it be cream of nectar, strawberry shortcake, cream
of ice cream, cream of coconut or chocolate?
They were made by hand with the smoothest ice in town. Ernest, a
machinist and draftsman, in the 1930s designed and patented the same
Sno-Bliz machine being used today. While he filled the cup with ice --
stopping three times for Mary to pour the syrup down deep -- she would
chit-chat with her customers. "Oh, you're so beautiful today" was
typical of what she would tell them.
"My mom and dad married during the Depression. Times were hard," said
Orleans Magistrate Judge Gerard Hansen, their son. The Hansens opened
the business in 1934 but closed it several times while having children,
before reopening for good in 1939 on Valmont Street. In 1944, they moved
to Tchoupitoulas, where they achieved icon status.
"There was never segregation at our snowball stand," Judge Hansen said.
"They never treated anyone differently or made them feel inferior. She
probably gave away more than she should have the first couple of years,
but kids would come hang out there, and they had no money. My mom would
say, 'Oh, today's a free day for children.' It made people come back."
The Hansens' motto at the snowball stand was: "There are no shortcuts to
quality." And there were sayings such as: "Air condition your tummy with
a Sno-Bliz sundae." Judge Hansen said his parents were the first to put
ice cream in the middle of a snowball.
All the recipes were stored in Mary Hansen's head, and all the
concoctions were homemade.
"I didn't want commercial flavors, I wanted homemade," she would
explain. "I cook all my own things anyway. Doesn't any woman with
children know the secrets and consistency of desserts? I just used fresh
ingredients and experimented."
Attracting everyone from neighborhood kids to movers and shakers and
politicos, the cinderblock building where the Hansens held their version
of court was the spot to cool off. Long lines were commonplace, but few
defected. When the family threw a party at Gallier Hall to celebrate
Mary and Ernest's 50th anniversary, Judge Hansen was approached by a
snowball stand customer who said, "I want to pay for a third of it --
they're like family to me."
And when Gerard Hansen was elected a judge in 1978, it was his parents
who put him in office, he said. "I was behind in the first primary by a
substantial margin. Somebody suggested I put Mom and Dad on the radio
and we did. People started saying 'Hey, you're the snowball lady's son.
If you're related to these people, you have to be good.' "
Right before Katrina hit, Mary Hansen was hospitalized in Touro
Infirmary with a problem swallowing food. After the problem was treated,
her son said, she needed skilled nursing assistance. Ernest, ever at her
side, would not leave the hospital. The day she was evacuated -- Sunday,
Aug. 29 -- was his 94th birthday.
She was airlifted to Pineville's Huey Long Charity Hospital, where, her
son said, "She started slipping and was in pretty bad shape." Ernest was
taken to Alexandria, and neither knew where the other was for a while.
"Since my dad retired in '76, they were inseparable. He would never
leave her. That was the first time they were separated," Judge Hansen
said. It took its toll.
On Sept. 6, they were both taken to Thibodaux, where the judge's
brother, Dr. Ernest C. Hansen Jr., lives. "We knew mom was in bad shape
so we got them a room together in a nursing home," the judge said.
Mary Hansen died Sept. 8. She was 95. On Nov. 16, she and Ernest would
have been married 73 years. She was buried in Thibodaux near a family
member.
"It was so hard on us not to be able to have a big funeral for her in
New Orleans," Judge Hansen said. "She was so loved -- it would have been
packed. But what's important is that she was with people she loved the
most -- her family."
For the past 15 years or so, Mary and Ernest Hansen have been assisted
by the judge's daughter, Ashley Hansen, who will continue to operate
Hansen's Sno-Bliz.
"My grandmother may not be there in presence but she'll always be there
in spirit," Ashley said. "The stand will stay around. I love it. I love
the business. I loved her."
. . . . . . .
Columnist Angus Lind can be reached at al...@timespicayune.com or at
(504) 826-3449.
Louisiana Lou
http://www.nola.com/living/t-p/index.ssf?/base/living-5/113394031264840.xml
Picture of Sno Bliz:
http://www.amroutes.com/images/galleryRoutes/HansensBldg.jpg
Picture of Ernest and Mary Hansen:
http://www.bestofneworleans.com/dispatch/2003-11-18/blake.html
More about Ernest Hansen and snow cones:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snow_cone
J.D. Baldwin
In the previous article, Louisiana Lou <Louisi...@hotmail.com>
wrote:
> [...]
I hate Sno-Cones, but I loved this article. Thank you for posting.
--
_+_ From the catapult of |If anyone disagrees with any statement I make, I
_|70|___:)=}- J.D. Baldwin |am quite prepared not only to retract it, but also
\ / bal...@panix.com|to deny under oath that I ever made it. -T. Lehrer
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