Remembering Joseph Casamento
Joseph Casamento, born above his father's Magazine Street oyster shop in 1919, shucked oysters for 50 years, ate a ham sandwich every night, and had ice cream and cookies for dessert. Other than manning a howitzer in the Philippines during WWII, and a family trip to Gatlinburg 32 years ago, he almost never left the city limits. Forced to evacuate to Mississippi for Hurricane Katrina, he was overcome with anxiety, and passed away in his sleep.
Casamento's was one of the first places with that unique New Orleans character that I came to appreciate when I moved here. Later, I shot some photos of the place for a Magazine Street photo essay - before Magazine Street was such hot real estate.
Joseph Casamento, 1925-2005. Rest in peace.
11/16/05 oyster update: "It killed Joe Casamento to leave the city. Tom Benson acts like it would kill him to stay."
posted by Schroeder @ 4:56 AM
1 comments
1 Comments:
We ate at Casamento's last night and learned about Joe only then. I swear I saw him in November when we were there on "opening day". Maybe I really did.
Casamentos and New Orleans are truly eternal. RIP Joe. The oysters are still great.
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