Mule-Drawn Garbage Truck

ID: 452 ~ Source:
Image Courtesy of the Louisiana Division/City Archives, New Orleans Public Library. ~ Date: 1930
This file appears in: Mules and Modernization

New Orleans mules also hauled the city's garbage trucks. While certainly less glamorous than a Mardi Gras parade, the removal of waste is a necessary task. Mules continued to perform this role until 1953, when the city purchased enough trucks to allow the last of its trash mules to retire.

This file appears in: Mules and Modernization

By Alison Laurence
Facing Jackson Square, one should see a line of mules and their drivers ready to take visitors on a trip around the French Quarter. Now a tourist attraction, these animals played a vital role for New…