| Old American Chicle Building Finds New Life |
| The landmark American Chicle factory in the Northwest Carrollton neighborhood received a new lease on life in 2008, when Landis Construction Company renovated the building and moved back to the city from their former home in the suburbs. |
| The chewing gum company constructed the building in 1911, adding New Orleans to its list of locations. The city was chosen because it was the leading port of commerce with Latin America, where chicle was harvested, and its proximity to sugar cane refineries. |
| The company suffered a reversal of fortunes a few years later and was forced to sell several of its factories. The building in New Orleans was sold to Marine Paint and Varnish, which remained on the site until the company closed in 1959. |
| The building was placed on the Register of Historic Places in 1998. |
| American Chicle employees at a gum-wrapping machine, about 1915. |
| Several companies came and went, until it was abandoned after the levee failures in 2005. In 2008, it was purchased by Landis Construction, who renovated the Italian-Renaissance building with an eye toward preserving as many of its original features as possible. |
| Building as it looked in the 1950's, when it housed Marine Paint and Varnish Company. |
| Chiclets were among the many products of the American Chicle Company. The ads below are from 1911 and 1912. |
| The top photo on this page is courtesy of Infrogmation@Wikimedia Commons. The link to this page is: http://old-new-orleans.com/NO_American_Chicle.html Back to Old New Orleans Whispers - Home |