Description
Handmade by Lisa Devlin Sterling Silver The height of the letters are 1/2" tall. The width varies, 3/8" - 1/2"... Depends on how wide the letter is. The "I" is more narrow than the "W", so of course that width will be wider for the "W". The width of the pendant of course will vary on how many letters are in your name. NOLA Street Tiles The tiles date back to the 1880s, when the city of New Orleans embedded letter tiles in city sidewalk intersections, identifying the two street names. It was done for the slower, horse-drawn society that New Orleans once was. The murky history of New Orleans' sidewalk tiles THEN: For things set in concrete, the history of the iconic blue-and-white tiles that spell out street names at corners throughout New Orleans is surprisingly unsettled. It's unclear exactly when city leaders gave the original go-ahead to embed the 4-by-6-inch, 1-inch thick, ceramic tiles into the city's sidewalks, but estimates peg it to sometime in the mid-1880s. The distinctive markers quickly worked their way into the hearts of locals & visitors alike. in July 1951, May Genevieve Nelson summed up the tiles' elegant but simple glory when she told the States newspaper, "They give the streets of New Orleans a warm charm & are very useful." NOW: in the 130-odd years since their inception, the ceramic tiles have become such a part of the city's culture & history that tourists the world over recognize them instantly, while collectors, locally & elsewhere, prize them as keepsakes & collectibles. They are so prized & revered that local citizens speak out when they witness them uprooted or destroyed. in 1993, when a vexed resident witnessed city work crews destroying them in Faubourg Marigny as they made wheelchair ramps, she alerted the Historic District Landmark Commission, a representative of which subsequently told The Times-Picayune, "We were assured (the Street Department) would carefully remove all the tiles & replace them back after the wheelchair ramps are installed." in the 19th century, when transportation was still horse-drawn, the prevailing wisdom held that street names set in the concrete below as opposed to on elevated street signs were much more suited to the plodding pace of travel then. Locals' affections for the city's blue-and-white street tiles run deep, as evidenced by the local artisans who forge replicas for sale & collection, including Danny Chinn at Preservation Tiles & Mark Derby of Derby Pottery, both of whom keep the flame alive with their work. in a 2009 interview with The Times-Picayune, Derby said that when he first started making them, he made crayon rubbings of existing, in-use tiles to get the design just right. He told Reid he feels that his efforts became even more vital after the destruction wrought by Hurricane Katrina in 2005. "Obviously, they're part of our lost heritage," he said. "There was no one making them at the time that I started." By Ryan Whirty, contributing writer Sources: The Times-Picayune,
