The Last Madam: A Life in the New Orleans Underworld (14 page)

Norma Wallace, 1920s, with her beloved Vidalia, a police dog whose name became a local term for an out-of-towner seeking a prostitute.

Norma, standing behind Andy Wallace and his bootlegger cronies. She took his name and the seven-carat diamond ring she’s wearing before he eventually shot and wounded her.

Norma, 1930s. “Whores make good wives, but madams don’t. When you’re making money in a whorehouse, that makes you independent and hard to get along with as a wife in the first place.”

Norma with her second husband, Pete Herman, at Shady Pond, her farm in Pearl River, 1936.

Pete Herman was twice the world bantamweight boxing champion before becoming a French Quarter nightclub owner. Norma first operated above Pete’s Ringside Bar and Lounge on the corner of Conti and Burgundy.

1026 Conti Street, late 1940s. Once owned by Ernest Bellocq, the famed photographer of the Storyville prostitutes, and located across the street from the Greyhound station, Norma’s third business address was in many ways ideal.

Canal Street, early
1950S.
At the Meal-a-Minit, Norma disguised herself as an old lady to spy on the cops who frequented it and to learn the new faces.

Norma first saw John Datri mounted, at the head of a Mardi Gras parade, carrying the police flag. Off duty, he would soon dress in cashmere and drive the gold Coupe DeVille that marked him as Norma’s new companion.

Norma Wallace at her second grand jury appearance, 1954.

In 1962, every cadet out of the police academy wanted the instant prestige that would come with shutting down Norma Wallace’s forty-two-year operation. Top left, Big Jim Garrison, the New Orleans DA, who sought to reform the French Quarter; top right, Officer Paul Nazar, whose upset stomach and Mediterranean eyes gained him entrance to 1026 Conti Street; left, Frederick Soulé (center, with bowtie), commander of the vice squad that finally busted Norma.

Below: Norma’s house in Waggaman, later the Tchoupitoulas Plantation Restaurant, where men paid well to finally introduce Norma to their wives. The nudes that once hung at 1026 Conti (above) were transferred to the walls of the restaurant; there, however, the patrons were required to keep their clothes on.