![\"donnelly1\"](\"https:\/\/apps.lib.ua.edu\/blogs\/coolathoole\/files\/2014\/03\/donnelly1-214x300.jpg\" "\\"Donnelly")
Archival Access Coordinator Donnelly Walton as a child<\/p><\/div>\n
I grew up in Mobile, Alabama,\u00a0a town\u00a0known as the\u00a0“Mother of the Mystics.”\u00a0Although\u00a0Mobile’s Mardi\u00a0Gras\u00a0is\u00a0perhaps not as famous as the celebration in New Orleans,\u00a0Mobile boasts the oldest Mardi Gras\u00a0in the country.\u00a0I grew up feeling pride\u00a0in my town, and\u00a0I loved\u00a0the\u00a0Carnival\u00a0season, which ends on Mardi Gras Day (Fat Tuesday).\u00a0Each year I woke on Ash Wednesday with a certain sadness that it was over.<\/p>\n
Began in\u00a01703, Mobile’s Mardi\u00a0Gras\u00a0is celebrated for about three weeks. Parades for the general public start around each night at 6:00. But for those involved in the\u00a0secret societies,\u00a0Mardi\u00a0Gras\u00a0activities last all year with meetings, parties, and other events.\u00a0In Mobile, these secret societies are called “mystic societies.” In New Orleans, they\u00a0are known as\u00a0krewes. Since the 1830s,\u00a0members of the societies\u00a0remain anonymous. Not all societies actually parade; those that don are referred to as “parade krewes.” When parading, the men\u00a0wear elaborate costumes with masks and\u00a0a hat to protect their identity.\u00a0The A. S. Williams III Americana Collection\u00a0at The University of Alabama\u00a0holds an extremely rare 1847 notebook from the\u00a0Cowbellion\u00a0de\u00a0Rakin\u00a0Society, the first\u00a0\u00a0such society in Mobile that held parades.\u00a0The notebook includes the induction ceremony script<\/a>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Cowbellion de Rakin Society script<\/p><\/div>\n The Mystic Stripers always ride on the last Thursday night before Mardi Gras Day.\u00a0Stripers are an old\u00a0krewe–the oldest still parading–with a unique history\u00a0as they\u00a0began\u00a0as a\u00a0working man\u2019s mystic society,\u00a0rather than one for the Mobile elite.\u00a0The Stripers parade, held on a Thursday night,\u00a0always signaled the beginning of\u00a0the climatic final parades.\u00a0Until that night, the parades are much shorter. On Friday, the\u00a0\u201cCrewe\u201d (Crewe of Columbus) rides; on Saturday, it is the\u00a0Mystics of Time’s turn.<\/p>\n The Mystics of Time, with their trademark dragon floats that weave in and out of the streets of downtown Mobile spitting fire,\u00a0will always be my favorite.\u00a0The dragons were and still are delightfully frightening to me.\u00a0However, I also have fond memories of the Stripers. While no one is supposed to know the identity of a\u00a0krewe\u00a0member,\u00a0it is often hard to maintain secrecy if you do know who they are.\u00a0A man named Joe worked with my dad\u00a0and he was a Striper. \u00a0I have stood in downtown Mobile screaming \u201cHey Joe!\u201d in hopes of getting bombarded with cheap trinkets, candy, and necklaces. I felt thrilled\u00a0when \u201cStripers Joe\u201d recognized my family in the crowd and flooded us with throws,\u00a0what we call the\u00a0items\u00a0that\u00a0krewe\u00a0members throw to the crowd.<\/p>\n My family wasn’t involved in\u00a0a\u00a0krewe; we simply enjoyed it.\u00a0Other families, who were also not involved in mystic societies,\u00a0choose to\u00a0ignore Mardi\u00a0Gras\u00a0and simply enjoy the vacation that so many people\u00a0in Mobile get for Mardi Gras.\u00a0Public schools close on Monday and Tuesday; some private schools close the whole week!<\/p>\n For me,\u00a0Mardi\u00a0Gras\u00a0season would mean rushing\u00a0home from school to finish homework. Then we’d get ready for the parade.\u00a0“Getting ready” involved dressing warmly (even mild nights in this coastal city felt quite chilly with the wind from the water) and getting a bag for your throws. The bags, just like the throws, have evolved over the years.\u00a0In the 1970s and 1980s,\u00a0we took paper grocery sacks that would often be filled with necklaces, doubloons, candy, and the all-important, much sought after Moon Pie.\u00a0Now,\u00a0it seems that you’re lucky to have enough to fill your pockets, much less the bags made of recycled materials or the festively decorated Mardi\u00a0Gras\u00a0bags I own. We\u2019d\u00a0park downtown on Water Street and then, as a special treat, walk a few blocks to Royal Street, where we\u2019d eat\u00a0dinner at the Royal Dog House.\u00a0I still remember the taste of that chili cheese dog,\u00a0always drunk with a cold Coke.\u00a0We\u2019d return to our car on Water Street and wait for the parade.\u00a0In those days, the\u00a0parade routes were different.\u00a0We were able to stand in front of our car and enjoy the parade as it passed\u00a0in front of us.<\/p>\n 2014 Mystics of Time float, courtesy of Allyson Holliday<\/p><\/div>\n How can I explain the excitement of waiting for a Mardi\u00a0Gras\u00a0parade?\u00a0There was a sequence of events that even the youngest of\u00a0children knew and waited for eagerly.\u00a0Long before the parade reached your area, there were no rules.\u00a0Cars and trucks still passed by until the traffic slowed to a trickle.\u00a0Then the street vendors appeared, pushing their grocery carts decorated and filled\u00a0with their goods:\u00a0silly hats, flags, and other items typical of events for children, along with my favorites,\u00a0cotton candy and snap \u2018n\u2019\u00a0pops (outlawed long ago).\u00a0Next came the police\u2014in cars and on\u00a0motorcycles\u00a0and horses\u2014who closed\u00a0the streets.\u00a0Even the police got in the spirit. Often, they did tricks on their motorcycles.\u00a0Our parents would allow us to sneak peeks down the street to see if we could see the actual floats coming in the distance.\u00a0I still remember the excitement of seeing emergency vehicles, followed by a marching band, with a beautiful float behind it.\u00a0The parades could last anywhere from twenty minutes to well over an hour, depending on how many floats and bands there were (and how many floats broke down during the parade!).<\/p>\n As the Mardi\u00a0Gras\u00a0season progressed, parades\u00a0became progressively\u00a0longer and more fun.\u00a0I remember\u00a0feeling so disappointed\u00a0when I went to other parades (Christmas, Fourth of July,\u00a0UA Homecoming Parades) in non-Mardi Gras towns.\u00a0Where were the fun bands that stopped and danced in front of you?\u00a0Where were the drunk men falling off floats as they pummeled you with candy, doubloons, necklaces, and Moon Pies?\u00a0For all of that\u00a0is\u00a0Mardi Gras. I loved sitting on my father\u2019s shoulders, holding\u00a0my\u00a0bag, and being overwhelmed with excitement when a costumed man in a full mask leaned over to toss\u00a0me cheap goodies. \u00a0While there\u00a0are\u00a0all-women parade\u00a0krewes,\u00a0the traditional male parade\u00a0krewes\u00a0are historically more rowdy.<\/p>\n The Sunday before Mardi Gras\u00a0Day is known as Joe Cain Day. Joe Cain was a nineteenth-century\u00a0Mobilian credited with bringing Mardi\u00a0Gras\u00a0back to Mobile after the Civil War in 1867. He infamously dressed as a Chickasaw Indian chief,\u00a0Slacabamarinico, and paraded through the streets.\u00a0Although some children attend Sunday\u2019s festivities in Mobile, my parents, like most of my friends\u2019 parents, never allowed us to go on this day, which might be the one day during Mobile\u2019s Carnival season that most resembles New Orleans\u2019s less family-friendly version\u00a0of the season.<\/p>\n The\u00a0Saturday\u00a0before\u00a0Joe Cain Day, however,\u00a0hosts the most tame and gentle of festivities: the Floral Parade.\u00a0The\u00a0Floral Parade features the Mobile Carnival Association\u2019s juvenile\u00a0king, queen, and court.\u00a0These are the children of Mobile\u2019s elite society, who will often grow up to be members of King Felix III and his queen\u2019s court.\u00a0(All Mardi\u00a0Gras\u00a0kings have been known as Felix III since the early 1900s. Sewlyn Turner IV<\/a> is this year’s King Felix III. View more photos of him on Alabama.com<\/a>.)<\/p>\n I was awestruck by the queen, her beautiful ladies-in-waiting, King Felix III, and his knights when I was a young child.\u00a0I still look forward to the Mardi\u00a0Gras\u00a0insert in the paper that shows all the court. \u00a0I love to see and read about the queen\u2019s dress and the history behind it. \u00a0This year\u2019s queen, Madeline Maury Dowling<\/a>, asked the Mardi\u00a0Gras\u00a0gown designer Homer McClure\u00a0to create a gown around the eighteenth-century necklace she received as a gift from her parents. Her dress and jewelry follows a historical precedent: since the late 1800s,\u00a0the king and his queen have worn elaborate costumes.\u00a0The\u00a0Hoole\u00a0Library has a several publications about the history of Mobile Mardi Gras, including some written by former queens, documenting the history of the court and their beautiful, extravagant clothing.<\/p>\n When I was a teenager,\u00a0my mother and I watched a special on TV about Mardi\u00a0Gras.\u00a0A\u00a0granddame<\/i>\u00a0of old Mobile society\u00a0described the Mardi\u00a0Gras\u00a0of her youth, mentioning all the \u201cmany lovely parties\u201d [insert the most beautiful and drawn out pronunciation of \u201cparties\u201d\u00a0that one can imagine].\u00a0I\u00a0realize now\u00a0that the lady was most likely Emily Staples\u00a0Hearin, author of several titles\u00a0on Mardi\u00a0Gras\u00a0in Mobile now held by the\u00a0Division of Special Collections.\u00a0Ms.\u00a0Hearin\u2019s father was head of the Mobile Carnival Association (MCA) for over forty years.<\/p>\n The restored Battle House Hotel in 2014, courtesy of Allyson Holliday<\/p><\/div>\n As the years progressed and parades no longer traveled down Water Street, my family moved our viewing spot to Royal Street, which was much more convenient to the Royal Dog House. \u00a0A lot of things have changed over the years.\u00a0Through the 1980s and 1990s,\u00a0we stood in front of the dilapidated remains of the old Battle House Hotel, established in 1851. Thankfully, now it has been beautifully restored.\u00a0Snap \u2018n\u2019 pops were outlawed years ago. Small pieces of candy are virtually nonexistent\u00a0today; popular plastic cups replaced them.\u00a0There are now\u00a0many varieties of moon pies, but\u00a0actually catching\u00a0an original Moon Pie\u00a0is\u00a0quite a feat.\u00a0The Royal Dog House closed at some point. I think that \u201cStripers Joe\u201d passed away or is too old to ride.\u00a0The downtown\u00a0Krispy\u00a0Kreme, our post-parade treat,\u00a0closed a few years ago.<\/p>\n But what hasn\u2019t changed, and what will probably never change, is that families in Mobile enjoy the festivities for a few weeks each year, and more and more people travel to Mobile\u00a0annually\u00a0to take part in the city\u2019s party.<\/p>\n Here are a selection of materials relating to Mardi Gras in Mobile in the Division of Special Collections.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n Manuscripts<\/strong><\/p>\n Battle House Hotel, courtesy of Allyson Holliday<\/p><\/div>\n Cowbellion de Rakin Society initiation ceremony script<\/a><\/p>\n For more information on the Battle House Hotel, see the Alabama hotels and resorts of the past collection<\/a><\/p>\n Publications<\/strong><\/p>\n Dean, Wayne. Mardi Gras : Mobile’s illogical whoop-de-doo, 1704-1970. Mobile’s carnival, the Gulf city’s great Mardi Gras festival; origin, growth, progress, and attractions for today. What it has done for Mobile in the past and present.\u00a0 <\/i>Chicago : [s.n.], c1971.\u00a0Hoole Library Alabama Collection.\u00a0 Call Number: GT4211.M6 D4 1971<\/p>\n Hearin, Emily Staples and Kathryn Taylor DeCelle.\u00a0 Queens of Mobile Mardi Gras, 1893-1986<\/i>. Mobile : Museum of the City of Mobile, 1986.\u00a0Hoole Library Alabama Collection.\u00a0 Call Number: GT4211.M6 H47 1986<\/p>\n Louisville & Nashville Railroad. Mardi Gras carnivals : New Orleans, Mobile and Pensacola,\u00a0<\/i>1912<\/i>.\u00a0 Publication:[s.l. : s.n., 1912?].\u00a0Hoole Library Rare Books Collection.\u00a0Call Number: F379.N53 L6 1912x<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By: Donnelly Walton, Archival Access Coordinator I grew up in Mobile, Alabama,\u00a0a town\u00a0known as the\u00a0“Mother of the Mystics.”\u00a0Although\u00a0Mobile’s Mardi\u00a0Gras\u00a0is\u00a0perhaps not as famous as the celebration in New Orleans,\u00a0Mobile boasts the oldest Mardi Gras\u00a0in the country.\u00a0I grew up feeling pride\u00a0in my … Continue reading ![\"IMG_2111\"](\"https:\/\/apps.lib.ua.edu\/blogs\/coolathoole\/files\/2014\/03\/IMG_2111-224x300.jpg\" "\\"Cowbellion")
<\/a>![\"IMG_2444.JPG\"](\"https:\/\/apps.lib.ua.edu\/blogs\/coolathoole\/files\/2014\/03\/IMG_2444.JPG-300x225.jpeg\" "\\"Mystics")
![\"battlehouse\"](\"https:\/\/apps.lib.ua.edu\/blogs\/coolathoole\/files\/2014\/03\/battlehouse-225x300.jpg\" "\\"The")
<\/a>![\"battlehouse2\"](\"https:\/\/apps.lib.ua.edu\/blogs\/coolathoole\/files\/2014\/03\/battlehouse2-225x300.jpg\" "\\"Battle")
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