Mardi Gras 2112 <br> Merrymaking, masking mark annual Gulf Coast festivities

Published Feb. 1, 2012
By Gulf Coast
Carnival Association

BILOXI, Miss. -- The celebration of Mardi Gras goes back to pagan rites of spring taken over by the early Catholic Church for a day of feasting before the beginning of Lent and weeks of fasting preceding Easter.

As the years passed, in addition to feasting, many added mummery with its masking and merrymaking -- a sort of letting go of all inhibitions before taking on the somber penitence of Lent.

Some countries in Europe celebrated this day of feasting on different dates, but the French restricted it to the day preceding Lent, and this custom was adopted by the French colonies in the New World. In French, "Mardi" means "Tuesday" and Gras means "fat," or "to eat meat," thus Fat Tuesday or Shrove Tuesday.

Biloxi claims the first Mardi Gras celebrated in this area was at the newly-established Fort Maurepas, for wherever there was a Frenchman, a holiday and a bottle of wine, there was a celebration.

New Orleanians claim some of D'Iberville's men were exploring the mouth of the Mississippi River, and on the morning of Mardi Gras in 1699, formally took possession of the area and named a small stream near the mouth of the river -- Bayou Mardi Gras -- a name still printed on maps of that region.

The boisterous buffooneries of the garrison at Mobile, Ala. generally made Ash Wednesday a day for military as well as priestly discipline. It was a completely American innovation to organize the carnival, to substitute regular parades for the old impromptu mummers in the streets and to unite into many social groups for the masked balls scattered throughout the season.

The first recorded carnival celebration other than private parties or balls was New Year's Eve in Mobile in 1831 when a group of young men, following an evening of wining and dining, saw an intriguing array of rakes, hoes, tubs, buckets and cowbells in a hardware store window. They unceremoniously borrowed the implements and with cowbells clanging and tubs booming, paraded through the sleeping town serenading their friends. Mobile's mayor graciously invited them in for refreshments, thereby giving official sanction to what turned out to be the organization of the Cowbellion de Rakin Society, forerunner of Coast Carnival Krewes and the fabulous parades themselves.

In New Orleans, the French colonists had their casual carnival balls and the Spanish found the custom well established when they took over the city in 1766. But they noticed with alarm that many residents were devoting the day to boisterous violence, so the Spanish put a stop to the custom of masking. Orleanians, masked or unmasked, continued to enjoy gallivanting around in costume.

In 1820, a group of young Creoles educated in Paris decided to liven things up with a masked procession of substantial size. But it soon got out of hand, and the celebration was suppressed until 1857, when a new organization was formed to present a parade with floats and torch lights. The group was the Mystick Krewe of Comus, and there were two main floats, one carrying the king and the other showing Satan in a blazing hell. A new Mardi Gras was born with strong American overtones.

The older carnival traditions are carefully preserved. Rules of the "krewes," the men's organizations, dominate the lives of the city's social circles. In New Orleans, Mardi Gras has become two celebrations -- the first a genial free-for-everyone affair, and the other the revelry of exclusive societies. The oldest krewes dominate, with membership ranging from one to 200. The man who really dictates is the krewe captain, not the king. No sooner is one season ended than work begins on another. For many workmen, Mardi Gras is a year-round job. A king is chosen, a man who can afford the expense of providing his own costume, jeweled train and accessories. The king gives suppers and parties and buys gifts for the queen and her maids. In smaller towns, the king also pays for the cost of his float.

The queen is usually chosen from among the current season's debutantes. The expense is great, but so is the honor. In this area, Mardi Gras is a school holiday, instead of Presidents Day that is celebrated in other parts of the country.

Biloxi was the first Mississippi Gulf Coast city to celebrate with a formal parade of floats in 1908. Now other towns celebrate with parades, but they space them at different times during the carnival season so all may come and enjoy each celebration. Biloxi still has its traditional carnival on Mardi Gras Day.