Preservation Hall opened its doors to the public for the first time on June 10, 1961 – 53 years ago today.

Allan and Sandra Jaffe wanted to help ensure the musical traditions unique to New Orleans would survive and thrive, and to do that, the couple opened the minimalist Preservation Hall.

As Allan Jaffe explained to journalist David Brinkley in a 1961 interview for the Brinkley News Hour at the newly opened establishment, there is little to distract the musicians or the audience from the music at Preservation Hall.

“What we’re trying to do here is just present the music the way the men want to play it,” Allan Jaffe says in the interview.

As Brinkley so eloquently put it “there are no drinks, and no strippers.”

While the ban on drinks and strippers persists, much has changed at Preservation Hall over the past 53 years.

Tuba player Ben Jaffe (Allan and Sandra’s son) has made it a point to ensure the music and musicians that fill the unchanged hall evolve with the times and stay always current in the ever changing world of modern music.

Through the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, an undying love of traditional New Orleans music, and the help of a Foo Fighter or two, the Jaffe family has indeed preserved a large chunk of the heart and soul of New Orleans music.

Happy Birthday Preservation Hall.