If you’re really from New Orleans...
You’ve spent time at the corner K&B...
Known for dad’s beer and vodka...
And the soda counter for you and me...

Started in 1905 as Katz & Besthoff...
It’s where everyone came to get well...
In addition to filling our prescriptions...
Their ice cream was the best, we’re here to tell...

Gustav Katz and Sidney Besthoff...
Opened their first pharmacy on Canal...
They were very successful working together...
And became each other’s best pal...

Soon they opened more locations...
With K&B purple being the color of choice...
They complimented each other’s acumen...
Eventually becoming a single voice...

Dozens and dozens of locations were opened...
They served New Orleanians all over town...
The locals bought everything from gum to school supplies...
With no one ever leaving wearing a frown...

It’s where we bought our art supplies...
It’s where our moms bought hairspray, too...
It’s where our dads bought the Times-Picayune...
And Dr. Tichenor’s and Elmer’s Glue...

They were best known for their ice cream...
The Creole cream cheese flavor, for sure...
No one ever left without at least one gallon... Whenever they finally left each store...

K&B finally closed in 1997...
They sold out to the Rite Aid chain...
Eventually, the chain went out of business...
And the empty stores are all that remain...

Now, all we have are the memories...
The K&B purple and ice cream are no more...
But the Besthoff art collection lives on forever...
At the New Orleans Museum of Art, for sure...

© 2022 Jeffrey Pipes Guice
My Wonder Years: A Book