March 17, 1930, when the managers of the Delta Steamship Company, then the Mississippi Steamship Company,
summoned their 80 employees in the Hibernia Bank Building in downtown New Orleans and initiated a daily 3:30 p.m. coffee
recess. Company scouts had found the custom to be very well-received in Brazil and adopted the idea for its New
Orleans office. The tradition started by the shipping company spread like wildfire, and in a short time completely saturated
the entire metropolitan area, which only goes to prove good news travels fast.
In 1892, Homer Plessy challenged a two-year-old street car law that separated passengers traveling on trains in Louisiana.
His action made him a plaintiff and defendant in the landmark U.S. Supreme Court Case of Plessy vs. Ferguson in 1896.
