Henry's hats: Famous fashion figure had roots in Morgan City

This is the story of an amazing man who began his career right here in Morgan City.
The Advocate newspaper ran a story recently regarding a book that has been written about this amazing man, Henri Bendel. In 1868, when he was born in Vermilionville, Louisiana, his name was Henry. We, in Morgan City, can claim a piece of Bendel’s fame.
Henry moved here in the 1880s to marry Blanche Lehman. According to Miss Carrie Gathright of Gathright and Soumeillan’s store, when Bendel moved to Morgan City, he was managing a store on the corner of Railroad and Second Street with Albert Gougenheim. He made stunning hats for the women of our area.
Blanche died within a year of their marriage, and when a fire destroyed Bendel’s store in 1895, he moved to New York City. There he opened a ladies’ accessories shop in Greenwich Village.
Although he was Jewish, Bendel had been fascinated by Catholic rituals and for years helped the priests in Morgan City decorate the altar in church. According to Miss Carrie after Henry moved to New York, “for years, Bendel sent some of his millinery creations to be sold here at Catholic Fairs.”
Utilizing the exceptional designing skills that he honed on the ladies of our fair city, Bendel’s original shop in Greenwich eventually became a twenty-four-store chain.
Since 1907, anyone carrying a brown and white striped shopping bag or hatbox in New York City was proclaimed “a happy shopper who had just indulged in the Henri Bendel experience.”
The Henri Bendel flagship store was moved to West 57th Street in 1913, and Bendel was the retailer who introduced Coco Chanel designs in the U.S. He is also noted as the first retailer to have his own fragrance, his own fashion show, and for having discovered designers such as Ralph Lauren and Perry Ellis.
In 1934, legendary composer Cole Porter included the line, “You’re a Bendel bonnet” in his song "You’re the Top," and always an innovator, Bendel hired Andy Warhol in the 1960s as an in-house illustrator.
Bendel’s 12-acre waterfront mansion located on Long Island was built in 1916 and sold to Walter Chrysler of the Chrysler Corporation in 1923. This building is now the administrative building of the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy.
In 1923, Bendel gave away 45% of his stock to his loyal staff. If offered today, this would have been a gift valued at $1.8 million.
Henry Bendel’s voice was first heard in Morgan City selling “hot weather shoes for ladies and gents”, but his voice grew and was eventually heard by fashionable women around the world.