New Orleans hatter receives French legion of honor for second world war service

Samuel Meyer, 99, received France’s highest decoration by Laurent Bili, the country’s ambassador to the US

For decades, Samuel Meyer has been New Orleans’s most celebrated hatter, devoted to a now-iconic business founded by his grandfather in 1894, and steering it into its second century with a fifth generation of family members in training.

On Tuesday, the 99-year-old military veteran was celebrated for an altogether different achievement: becoming a chevalier of the French legion of honor in recognition of his service to the allies during the second world war.