A
casket girl, also widely known as a
cassette girl, refers to one of the women brought
from France
to the
French colonies of Louisiana to marry. The name
derives from the small chests, known as cassettes, in which they
carried their clothes. They were conspicuous by reason of their
virtue.
Normally women were supplied to the colonists
by raking the streets of Paris
for
undesirables, or by emptying the houses of correction. The
casket girls, however, were recruited from church charitable
institutions, usually
orphanages and
convents, and, although poor, were
practically guaranteed to be virgins. For this reason it later
became a matter of pride in Louisiana to show descent from
them.
The first
consignment reached Mobile
in 1704,
Biloxi
in 1719, and New Orleans
in 1728. They inspired
Victor Herbert to write
Naughty Marietta.
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