First Po Boy Sandwiches

Bennie and Clovis Martin left their Raceland, Louisiana, home in the Acadiana region in the mid-1910s for New Orleans.

Both worked as streetcar conductors until they opened Martin Brothers' Coffee Stand and Restaurant in the French Market in 1922 (picture). 

In early July, 1929, transit strikes throughout the nation provoked emotional displays of public support, and the 1929 strike ranks among the nation's most violent. 

New Orleans was no exception when on July 5th, career criminals hired and brought in from New York by the streetcar company attempted to start back the run, brickbats and jeering crowds stopped them. The transit system came to a halt and was shut down for two weeks. 

During the strike, the Martin boys promised “Our meal is free to any members of Division 194. We are with you till hell freezes, and when it does, we will furnish blankets to keep you warm." 

They made sandwiches from loaves of special made French bread and handed them out. "We fed those men free of charge until the strike ended. Whenever we saw one of the striking men coming, one of us would say, 'Here comes another poor boy.'" - Bennie Martin

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