House of Crocs
March 12th, 2007 by Editor BJust when I thought I’d seen it all in this crazy post-Apocalyptic city of ours, I discovered the bizarre mystery that is… The House of Crocs.
Enter… if you dare.
Update: As noted in the comments, the shoes in this house are not Crocs but Orthotebbs. They were actually invented by a New Orleanian. The holder of the patent is the same person who owns the house. Someone contacted me on behalf of the owner and asked me to remove the photo, which I did. I also urged them to take steps to secure the property. It took a few weeks, but finally they boarded up the open doorway. Now I see that the building has been condemned.
March 12th, 2007 at 2:52 pm
Thanks for the afternoon giggle, Bart.
March 12th, 2007 at 3:04 pm
That is so bizarre. Mardigraszone.com? They sell crocs? They’re not even Mardi Gras colors … for some reason I would feel better about those crocs if they were purple, green and gold. I’m hoping Muses is just stocking up for next year to throw decorated crocs … I’ve got it, maybe they’re lagniappe for house gutting volunteers?
March 12th, 2007 at 3:17 pm
That is the scariest thing I have ever seen. Crocs have taken over as the new slippers!
March 12th, 2007 at 3:20 pm
Free storage everywhere! Oh my god, I can go stash all my winter down the street . . . LOL !
March 12th, 2007 at 3:23 pm
well, that just made my monday. fantastically weird.
March 12th, 2007 at 3:45 pm
Now THAT’s a blog post! Man, what a trip. They somewhat match the house paint too!
March 12th, 2007 at 3:55 pm
Free enterprise…nawlins’ style. That’s hilarious. It would be great if it turns out they were stolen from store in Metairie.
My guess is Jazz Fest Booth.
March 12th, 2007 at 4:46 pm
Great!
Now you know how I’m financing all our red wine.
March 12th, 2007 at 4:50 pm
Are they real crocs or knock offs?
I could use some new garden shoes, but would prefer the real deal to knockoffs. I just wish the color choices were better.
Since the door is open are we to assume this is serve yourself like everything else in this city?
March 12th, 2007 at 6:22 pm
Some aspiring shoe salesperson is shitting his/her boots – uh – Crocs- this very second.
March 12th, 2007 at 7:38 pm
And here I thought the rumour about crocs floating in the flood was about the animal, uh beast, er reptile, whateverl……
March 12th, 2007 at 9:48 pm
wtf? i just drove by that house yesterday. i wish i had stopped and picked up a pair for the wife. she loves them.
March 13th, 2007 at 1:59 am
Mystery Solved! I was looking at pics and though maybe they were looted so I went to mardi gras zone website and got phone number called the people and got owner he said that is a warehouse of thiers and was surprised to learn door was missing. He was grateful I called and said to stop by for a free po-boy lol so thanks for posting the pics i got a free po-boy and helped a person before he got all his merchendice stolen
March 13th, 2007 at 3:23 am
Um. Does this now make you New Orleans’ foremost authority on wildlife, aka the Croc Hunter?
March 13th, 2007 at 9:11 am
Croc house? Well thank heavens it’s not a “crack” house….sorry, just had to get that one in.
March 13th, 2007 at 11:44 am
To quote what I said on Flickr:
“I think it’s the former home of a croc (among other things) merchant. Or aliens hide their crocs here.
“P.S. This person has really bad Arabic handwriting.
“P.P.S. Just found a listing for Ortho Teb Shoes here in the CBD”
So, Charles, did the owner of Mardi Gras Zone have an Arab/Muslim name? They must sell those shoes to float riders.
March 13th, 2007 at 1:36 pm
Oh, now I’m sad. Here someone gave those little (mock) reptiles their freedom, and immediately there’s collusion to contain them all again.
I had a dream last night which woke me up in perplexity. Perhaps liprap or one of the other young-child parents can interpret it for me. I was unfolding my son’s underwear when a plague of frogs leapt out from it. They were very, very cute and very, very tiny but there was a whole lot of them. Somehow this just seemed like the appropriate post to hang that on.
March 13th, 2007 at 3:33 pm
Where can I get me some of dem crocs?
March 13th, 2007 at 3:35 pm
I got a pair of crocs for the next time New Orleans floods. I’ll swim in comfort and my shoes won’t be wet and stinky like last time. Did Nicki get her car? What about the long table?
March 13th, 2007 at 5:21 pm
Is some young ‘un in your home having some potty issues? Are you getting waaay too het up about the unknown? Are you worried about the environment?
I only ask about the last one because frogs are one of our canaries in the environmental coalmine that the planet Earth is becoming.
Just speculatin’…
March 13th, 2007 at 6:26 pm
Do not know the owner name but i first talked to an employe who then told me to hold to talk to his boss and i heard them talking in a foreign language that was middle eastern sounding not sure what it was but i plan to stop by the royal street place tomorrow to see about that free po-boy
March 13th, 2007 at 6:43 pm
“foreign language that was middle eastern”
Hmmm … let me think.
March 13th, 2007 at 6:55 pm
noooooo… I was thinking more along the lines of what Adrastos posted. Fat calves, skinny calves, famines; I can deal with the Apocalyptic stuff. Global warming not my issue. I can deal with the unknown. Everything’s a puzzle or a videogame: you get to a new boundary, you figure out how to cross it.
It was solely the use of the underwear as metaphor that threw me. Thanks, though. I think I’ve got it sussed out.
March 13th, 2007 at 7:00 pm
it may have been turkish but not sure it did sound a bit like how my boss and coworkers sound when they talk Turkish amongst themselves
did antone see that new article about the army corp srewing us over again? the pumps that had installed last year were defective and they knew they were defective
March 14th, 2007 at 11:38 am
First Adrastos’ carnivorous frogs in Golden Gate Park, now THIS.
(Sadly, I do love the damn things, the crocs that is–they’re great for bike riding in a puddle soaked NOLA after a rain storm.)
We could “liberate” them and finance the entire Geek Dinner by selling them!
March 14th, 2007 at 1:49 pm
I own a pair of Ortho Teb shoes! I was a sucker & fell for the sales pitch a few years ago @ the Riverwalk Mall kiosk. The young lady was a Dr. @ Charity. She developed the Teb Shoes which supposidly will help increase circulation to prevent all kinds of health issues. I wondered if they were back after Katrina?
March 14th, 2007 at 11:50 pm
[...] This guy found bags and boxes full of Crocs Shoes in a flooded house in Lousiana. Could these have fallen off a truck and stored there? Could they floated out of a warehouse and collected at this house? [...]
March 15th, 2007 at 8:21 am
c.rox
March 22nd, 2007 at 11:12 am
I work for Mardigraszone and the shoes are Orthotebb. It is the house of his girlfriend. She sold Orthotebb. No idea why someone thought it was ok to go in and take pictures though since it’s still trespassing.
March 22nd, 2007 at 11:34 am
I’d just like to point out that ten days after the owner was notified, this property is still unsecured, wide open to any child (or photographer) to enter. Yes, technically I suppose this is trespassing. But leaving this house unsecured is negligent. I’m surprised the owner hasn’t taken the most basic steps to secure the place. How hard is that? A sheet of plywood, some nails, a hammer, and a few minutes work. Leaving it like it is now sends a message that the owner does not care about the neighborhood.
March 15th, 2008 at 7:21 am
You guys have it ALL wrong. Dr. Tebs shoes are THE BOMB. The design is similar to Earth shoes. The front is really big and slopes down. They stretch out your hamstring and I googled them only to find this SAD commentary! My sis told me they went out of business BUT THAT”S A SHAME!!! I’m telling you theses shoes are REALLY good for your legs! (Ha you thought I was going to say FEET!) Maybe I can find them on e-bay………..