Authentic New Orleans: Tourism, Culture, and Race in the Big Easy

2 Processions and Parades: Carnival Krewes and the Development of Modern Mardi Gras

Processions and Parades Carnival Krewes and the Development of Modern Mardi Gras It was the last day of carnival. . . . There was a grand procession parading in the streets, almost everyone dressed in the most grotesque attire, troops of them on horseback, some in open carriages, with bands of music, and in a variety of costumes. . . . All wore masks, and here and there in the crowd, or stationed in a balcony above, we saw persons armed with bags of flour, which they showered down copiously on any one who seemed particularly proud of his attire. The strangeness of the scene was not a little heightened by the blending of negroes, quadroons, and mulattos in the crowd; and we were amused by observing the ludicrous surprise, mixed with contempt, of several unmasked, stiff, grave Anglo-Americans from the North, who were witnessing, for the first time, what seemed to be so much mummery and tom-foolery. . . . The crowd seemed determined to allow nothing to disturb their good humor. —Englishman Charles Lyell, recorded in a visit to New Orleans in 18461 For over a century, Carnival and Mardi Gras have been tightly integrated into the social life of New Orleans and have always expressed the collective conscience and social antagonisms of the city. Traditionally, the Carnival season in New Orleans consists of a series of balls and parades from January 6 (Twelfth Night, or the Feast of the Epiphany) to Mardi Gras, or “Fat Tuesday,” the day before Ash Wednesday and the beginning of Lent. Before the Civil War, Carnival and Mardi Gras developed as a relatively spontaneous and indigenous celebration for local residents that included public masking, masquerade balls, rambunctious street parades, and widespread frivolity. At various times during both the colonial and antebellum periods, city author2 22 ities prohibited masking and masquerade balls, though enforcement was often lax and uneven. The Civil War temporarily interrupted organized parading, and the years of Reconstruction (1866–1877) witnessed the growth of new Carnival clubs, organizations, and cultural traditions in the city. Railroad companies used Mardi Gras themes in their advertisements to stimulate travel, and by the 1880s and 1890s the local celebration had become nationally popular. By the end of the century, American and European travel writers advised readers that Mardi Gras in New Orleans was a lavish festival that expressed civic pride, community identity, and a local attitude of “Laissez Le Bon Temps Roule” (Let the Good Times Roll). As the twentieth century unfolded, the actual celebration and symbolic icon of Mardi Gras grew significantly larger as tens of thousands of tourists visited the city to participate in the annual festival. Through the century, the growth of media coverage, international publicity, and promotional campaigns helped create an enduring public image of Mardi Gras as the most extravagant celebration staged in any American city.2 Today, although other cities around the world celebrate Mardi Gras, none have the intemperate and licentious reputation , long-standing cultural traditions, spectacular floats and parades, formal balls, and tourism infrastructure to accommodate the thousands of tourists that visit New Orleans each year. Carnival and Mardi Gras in the Colonial and Antebellum Eras Great was the rejoicing in our fair city yesterday; from morn until midnight the gay-hearted youth, laying aside all cares, came forth in fanciful attire to celebrate the Mardi Gras. . . . Not only were the riders decked in fancy robes, but also their horses came in for a share of the decorations, and bore rich cloths round their necks and ornamental appendages to their tails. . . . When night came on, the city seemed all one masquerade. Groups of citizens in dresses, of every age and station, were wending their way to the various balls and theatres, and it seemed that mirth and laughter were the high priests that every one had sworn to worship. —Description of Mardi Gras from “The Carnival,” 18553 Evidence of a Carnival “season” of limited duration, with particular festivities and institutional forms, is sparse before the 1820s. Few newsProcessions and Parades | 23 papers noticed Carnival in a regular manner, and visitors to New Orleans reported little about concerted and formalized celebrations taking place. Across the city and region, public balls, concerts, plays, and street masking were frequent and widespread, and not restricted to a delimited season. During the colonial era, a rich tradition of black holidays and festivities flourished in New Orleans from January until March, a condition that caused city...