Hansen's, patented Shaved ice
and Secret family recipe flavors
make their snowcones a treat
everyone comes back for again
and again!
story by
KIMBERLY SANDERS
V
ANDERBROOK
photography by
C, ROSS
Hansens
Sno-Bliz:
community
tradition and
family legacy
Summer 2007
35
operating ever since. Its founder, Ernest Hansen,
a machinist by trade, invented the patented SnoBliz ice-shaving machine that grinds ice to an
impossibly fine powdery snow. His wife, Mary
Hansen, developed a secret syrup recipe and handmade the dozens of syrups. And like their 75-year
marriage, Ernest's ice and Mary's syrups were a
winning combination that stood the test of time.
For more than 70 years, people have gladly waited
in line for more than 30 minutes for a taste of
Hansen's icy perfection.
Sadly, Mary Hansen (95) died in September
2005 after a struggle with Alzheimer's disease and
being evacuated during Hurricane Katrina. Ernest
HANSEN'S SNO-BLIZ
4801 Tchoupitoulas Street
New Orleans, Louisinana
summer arrives early in New Orleans. For
Hansen succumbed to cancer shortly after his true
some, summer's heat and humidity are
love in March 2006. They could be found working
signs of the season, but for many New
at the stand, inseparable right up until Hansen's
Orleanians it's the opening of Hansen's Sno-
closed the day of Hurricane Katrina. But the
Bliz that truly ushers in New Orleans' summertime
Hansen's spirit and their dream lives on with their
with a seasonal right of passage: an icy snowball!
granddaughter, Ashley Hansen, who is carrying on
Snowballs are a true New Orleans creation, and
Hansen's Sno-Bliz shop at 4801 Tchoupitoulas
the family tradition with the help of her father,
local judge Gerard Hansen.
Street (pronounced "chop it to las") is the top tier
New Orleans' new reigning snow queen is any-
snowball shop in a city that takes its snowballs as
thing but. Ashley inherited more than the family
seriously as its haute cuisine. While other cities
business—she also has her grandmother's smile and
Ashley Hansen (above) is
settle for snow cones made of crushed ice and
sweet disposition. She helped her grandparents run
proudly carrying on her
sickly sweet syrup, New Orleans cools off with a
the shop since the age of 15, gradually taking over
grandparents' tradition of
unique frozen confection of powdery-fine ice lay-
more of the responsibilities as their health
serving their famous
ered with dreamy concoctions like Nectar Cream,
declined. "My friends were all having children,"
Strawberry Shortcake, and Cream of Coffee, often
she laughs, "I had grandparents." Her duties grew
topped with condensed milk or ice cream.
from helping clean syrup bottles and manning the
504-891-9788
snowcones to children and
adults alike (right).
Hansen's Sno-Bliz shop opened its doors in 1934
in the midst of the Great Depression and has been
36
southernbreeze.com
cash register to complete responsibility for her
grandparents and the business.
"Running a business with my grandparents was
challenging at times," Ashley says. 'They were used
to doing things themselves—everything
went on to tell me how much my grandparents
meant to her.
from
"She attended the school across the street and
picking up the ice to making the snowballs. It was
she and the other kids didn't have anywhere safe to
a long time before I convinced them that we should
go after school so my grandmother took them in,
have the ice delivered, and the syrup recipe was
monitoring their grades and homework, giving
such a closely held secret, and my grandmother was
them snowballs, and making them homemade
Kim Vanderbrook is a
so stubborn, that she wouldn't even tell me how to
Italian doughnuts on her big stove in back. The
recovering attorney, full-time
make it. Luckily, I had watched my grandmother
woman got her chocolate snowball, handed me a
Southern mama and freelance
make the syrups since I was a little girl, and my dad
twenty-dollar bill, and insisted on paying for the
writer. She and her family
and I experimented until we got it just right."
next person's snowballs. The next person in line
live in Covington, Louisiana
Despite the hardships, Ashley learned a lot from
paid for the person behind them and on and on.
and are dreaming of their first
working with her grandparents. "The most impor-
This 'pay it backward' went on for nearly an hour,
taste of a Hansen's Sno-Bliz
tant thing I learned was compassion for others," she
with each person telling how much Hansen's has
this summer.
says. "They used the snowball stand as an outreach
meant to them. It was really special."
to others. They always looked at people with an
In a lot of ways, Hansen's is symbolic of what is
attitude of generosity and service. They inspired
going on in the city right now. Most of New
Stubborn, that she wouldn't
me to be a better person and face the world with
Orleans "mom and pop" businesses are struggling
even tell me how to make it.
unconditional love the way that they did."
to stay afloat and stay unique. To Ashley and the
Luckily, I had watched my
Generations of New Orleans residents, black
legions of loyal Hansen's customers, Hansen's is
grandmother make the
and white, rich and poor, political powerhouses,
about more than just snowballs. It is a haven of old
syrups Since I was a little
and just plain folk can be found on any summer
New Orleans, especially in the post-Katrina land-
girl, and my dad and I
day, waiting in line, enjoying the many vintage
scape. Its creaky screen door opens to reveal a
experimented until we got
photos that paper the walls and pondering which
treasured piece of New Orleans history—one that
it just right, "Ashley recalls
of Mary's delectable flavors they will savor. Some
hasn't changed when so many other things have.
say that the line at Hansen's has a culture all its
"Hansen's is a community staple," Ashley says.
own; anything can happen. "One day right after we
"I want to keep Hansen's just like people remember
reopened, this woman came in and pushed her way
when they came here as kids. It's my gift to New
to the front of the long line," Ashley recollects. "She
Orleans to keep Hansen's just as good as my
had just heard about my grandparents' deaths and
grandparents did." ©
"My grandmother was SO
as She pours syrup over the
shaved ice (above).
Summer 2007
37