11/26/2023
For those who don’t know Mr Bingle
Yesteryear, on Canal Street in New Orleans, there was an upscale large department store called Maison Blanche. It opened in 1897 and was founded by a penniless merchant named Isadore Newman. He was once a penniless merchant.
He’s a true success story on his own, but I digress.
In the 1940’s, Maison Blanche, with the initials of MB, decided that for advertising purposes they needed to find a unique character that would intrigue and delight children and their parents.
Emile Alline had been an employee at Maison Blanche since 1937.
10 years into his employment, he had visited Chicago and had seen a Dickinson like character called “Uncle Mistetoe” in the Marshall Fields department store. It seemed that Uncle Mistletoe struck a chord with families and although Mr Bingle is a totally different character, Uncle Mistletoe became the inspiration for Mr. Alline to create a snow doll.
The Maison Blanche president, Mr. Herbert Schuartz, wanted the new character to have the initials “MB” in the name and so, in 1947, the snow doll became Mr. Bingle.
Aa the story goes, Santa left his shop one day and found the snowman near his sleigh. “You’ll be my helper now,” Santa said and tapped the little snowman’s head. After the snowman laughed and sang a jingle, Santa named him Mr. Bingle. Santa gave him holly wings so he could fly.
Mr. Bingle first appeared in the Christmas window display of the Canal Street store and then Mr. Alline suggested having special Christmas puppet and marionette shows in those windows.
Enter Edwin Harmon "Oscar" Isentrout, a master puppeteer who working in the French Quarter.
So beginning in 1848, Mr. Isentrout was the voice, movement and the personality for the puppet. Mr Bingle was now alive.
The shows occurred daily, every 15 minutes, in the weeks leading up to Christmas.
The Mr. Bingle phenomenon was born.
Beginning in 1949, a 75 foot Mr.Bingle hung (flew) outside Maison Blanche every year.
Beginning in December of 2005, after being damaged in Hurricane Katrina, that figure has been displayed at City Park during the Celebration in the Oaks every Christmas season.
Mr. Bingle had his own local tv show and was on the radio. Mr. B also appeared as a guest on other TV shoes and made frequent visits to Children's Hospital.
Mr. Bingle’s popularity was not just limited to New Orleans. The lovable snowman had extended holiday runs in Birmingham and Memphis, the home of Maison Blanche’s sister divisions, Loveman’s and Lowenstein’s. And when Maison Blanche purchased St. Petersburg-based Robinson’s stores, Mr. Bingle made his way into Florida.
Mr. Bingle also made an appearance one year at the Citrus Bowl in Florida in 1989 and President Kennedy invited him to the White House.
People today talk about the Christmas window displays in NYC and the crowds but, in New Orleans, that was how it was at Maison Blanche.
Every year parents would bring their children downtown to Maison Blanche to see the puppet shows. You would inch your way through the crowd to the window to see Mr B and then it was off to see Santa on the 3rd floor.
Mr. Bingle is a New Orleans cultural icon. He’s as known to locals as much as Red Beans and Rice and Gumbo. If you grew up in New Orleans you just knew.
Mr. Bingle impacted many childrens lives and those children, now grown, made sure his legacy lived on and still sends his special Christmas message to new generations.
Merchandising of Mr Bingle was everywhere but even Maison Blanche didn’t realize how big it would get.
In 1998, Dillard’s purchased Mercantile Stores, the then-parent firm of Maison Blanche. The purchase included the rights to the Mr. Bingle character. Dillard’s knew better than to abandon Mr. Bingle.
They start selling the merchandise online for the Louisiana branches around the first of October of each year. Stores get the items around the middle of October. The items change yearly and most sell out immediately. Lakeside Mall in New Orleans is by far the biggest display and is on the 3rd floor in honor of Maison Blanche.
There are multiple Mr Bingle fan clubs. Bingle lovers post their pictures of their decor and tell stories of their childhood. The clubs also help others find harder to find Bingle plushes.
Older plushes are a hot commodity on internet auction sites. The 2005 Mr. Bingle, the year of Hurricane Katrina, is always in high demand and if you happen upon an older stuffed Mr Bingle from the 40’s to 70’s, they sell for thousands of dollars on auction sites.
And so Mr Bingle lives on and brings smiles steeped in tradition. Tradition, what New Orleanians do best.
From the Celebration in the Oaks holiday display, annual editions of Mr. Bingle plush dolls and items, the lobby display at the Ritz-Carlton (the former Maison Blanche store) to Mr B’s occasional live visits for children (and adults) at New Orleans-area Dillard’s stores, he is still putting smiles on our faces and warming our hearts!
*Mr. Bingle’s theme song:
“Jingle, jangle, jingle
Here comes Mr. Bingle
With another message from Kris Kringle
Time to launch your Christmas season
Maison Blanche makes Christmas pleasin'
Gifts galore for you to see
Each a gem from MB!”
*The Story of Mr. Bingle
by Emile Alline
When Santa left his shop one day
He found a snowman near his sleigh.
“You’ll be my helper now,” he said,
And tapped the little fellow’s head.
The snowman found that he could talk!
“Look, Santa, I can even walk!”
And then he gave a little sigh...
“Oh, how I wish that I could fly!”
So, Santa gave him holly wings,
Then, looking through his Christmas things,
Found ornaments the very size
To make a pair of shining eyes.
Then Santa said, “You need a hat;
An ice cream cone’s just right for that.
And keep this candy cane with you,
You’ll see what magic it can do!”
The snowman laughed and sang a jingle,
So Santa named him “Mr. Bingle.”
That’s how it happened. Now he’s here
With us at Maison Blanche all year.
