Easy, that is, until you have tried one. Instead, they exert a subtle pull on the passers-by. The steaming summers of New Orleans spurred the invention of the snowball. New Orleans is famous for making the commonplace decadent. Vanessa Grishaw, who works at Sal's Sno-balls in Metairie, said there are some customers who just can't get enough.
Some people come here three times a week.
Fitzmorris sees snowball stands as a New Orleans cultural phenomenon. Donna Black, who owns Williams-Plum Street Snoballs, agrees. It's a family thing. After church, after lunch, after dinner. In the wake of big business chains and corporate buy-outs, Fitzmorris views the snowball stand as one of the last survivors of a bygone era.