Mardi Gras

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Graphic about the Paris Carnival: “La Bataille des 'Confetti' sur les boulevards” (“The Confetti Battle in the Streets”), 1896
The procession with the Boeuf-Gras ("Fat Ox") in New Orleans, 1875
Sheet music cover sheet for the English “Mardi Gras Rag” by George Lyons and Bob Yosco from 1914
Joe Cain as Chickasaw Chief Slacabamorinico , before 1879
Costumed musicians at the 1997 Mardi Gras in New Orleans

Mardi Gras ([ mɑrdiɡrɑː ]; German Shrove Tuesday , Italian Martedì Grasso ; English .. And Others Fat Tuesday ) is the French name for the Shrove Tuesday , the last day of - especially in Catholic populated areas - celebrated carnival before Ash Wednesday , the beginning of Easter Lent . It marks the finale of the semaine des sept jours gras (“week of the seven fat days”) and many carnival celebrations take place on this day. In English , the term - based on the USA - became a synonym for all carnival festivals between November 11th and Ash Wednesday as well as for the carnival time itself, also called Mardi Gras season . In particular, the term is mainly associated with the celebrations in New Orleans and Mobile (Alabama) today.

history

The tradition of Mardi Gras came to the USA mainly through Catholics of French origin. Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville and his brother Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville were sent to protect the rights of France in what was then known as Louisiana , which included parts of what is now the states of Alabama , Mississippi and Louisiana . The Iberville-led expedition reached the mouth of the Mississippi River on March 2, 1699, Carnival Monday . They drove upstream until they reached a point where a small tributary flowed into it (about 100 kilometers downstream from what is now New Orleans) and pitched their tents. That was March 3, 1699, Mardi Gras . So Iberville called the place Point du Mardi Gras ("Point of Mardi Gras") and called the tributary Bayou Mardi Gras ("Mardi Gras River").

mobile

In 1700 there were clashes between the indigenous people and colonists on the Mobile River . A declaration of war followed, French troops were brought in and there was fighting for several years without clear winners. The French colonists wrote about their longing for home and about celebrating Mardi Gras with partying and singing. Bienville became governor in 1701 and in 1702 he founded Fort Louis de la Louisiane or Fort Louis de la Mobile and the city behind it, 43 km from the estuary. This mobile was the capital until the city was relocated to what is now Mobile in Alabama in 1711 due to flooding and disease. Mardi Gras was celebrated there for the first time in 1703. In 1704 the Mystic Society ("Mystic Society", Carnival Society in Mobile) was founded as Societé de Saint Louis by French soldiers in Fort Louis de la Mobile . In the same year, the first Masque de la Mobile ("Masked Ball of Mobile") took place, which was held until 1709. In 1710, the Societé de Saint Louis first celebrated the Boeuf Gras ("fat ox"), which was the beginning of the Boeuf Gras Society . The following year this society held the first small parade.

In 1720 Biloxi (Mississippi) became the capital of what was then Louisiana and in 1723 New Orleans. In 1763 Mobile came under British control and in 1780 it was conquered by the Spanish during the American Revolution . In 1793 the Spanish Mystics held a kind of torchlight parade on the twelfth Rauhnacht from January 5th to 6th. Compared to the festivals in New Orleans, this parade was orderly and well organized. In 1813 Mobile became a United States city in the Mississippi Territory , in 1817 it became part of the Alabama Territory, and in 1819 Alabama became a state. In the Anglican and Episcopal tradition from England, Shrove Tuesday is celebrated as Shrove Tuesday ("Confession Tuesday"). The time before Lent was celebrated with the consumption of nutritious food and all fat was used up and pancakes were baked, which is why the day is also called Pancake Day .

On New Year's Eve from 1829 to 1830, Michael Krafft, a Dutch resettler from Pennsylvania living in Mobile, celebrated with some friends in a restaurant. After dinner, the tipsy “borrowed” some agricultural tools that were in front of a hardware store. They then paraded through the streets of the city with cowbells, rakes and knocks . This gave rise to the organized Mystic Society called Cowbellion de Rakin Society , which from 1831 held the parades on New Year's Eve. For the first ten years they paraded on foot with a few floats. In 1835, a newspaper reported that the Mobile Cowbellion de Rakin Society paraded through the streets of New Orleans. Michael Krafft died in Pascagoula (Mississippi) in 1839 . The following year, the Cowbellions presented their first themed pageant image . It was based on mythological themes and included floats, band bands and horses. A group of young upstarters who were not allowed to join the posh cowbellions formed the Strikers Independent Society , the second Mystic Organization in Mobile. In 1846 the third community followed with The Tea Drinkers . In 1852 the Cowbellions held their first ball, other Mystic Societies formed, and the Carnival season gradually expanded to Shrove Tuesday. Mobile residents who moved to New Orleans founded their own cowbellion society there in 1856 . A group of cowbellions and strikers helped some New Orleans people start another community there in 1857. The term krewe was used for the first time . In 1865, the Cowbellions finally held their last parade.

During the Civil War (1861-1865) the parade was not held every year. In 1866, while Mobile was still occupied by Union troops, Joseph Stillwell Cain (Joe Cain, 1832–1904) paraded through the city on Shrove Tuesday as a fictional Chickasaw chief named Slacabamorinico , or Old Slac for short . The disguise was a denigration of Union forces, which the Chickasaw could never defeat. In the following year (1867) 16 war veterans with improvised costumes joined them and they marched through the city in a decorated coal wagon, playing on drums and horns . The group was called Lost Cause Minstrels (" minstrels of the lost dispute"). This is the origin of the parade of The Order of Myths on Mardi Gras. Cain is a much-honored innovator of Mardi Gras with parades during the day on Shrove Tuesday, today the events last two weeks. In 1966 his grave and that of his wife were moved from Bayou La Batre to the Church Street Graveyard in Mobile. Julian Lee "Judy" Rayford marched to the grave at the head of a jazz funeral procession on the Sunday before Shrove Tuesday in 1967 . This established the tradition of Joe Cain Day . The Joe Cain Parade , also known as The People's Parade , has been at the center since 1968 , as it is designed by all citizens and not by a special Krewe . Originally, anyone who appeared at the starting point on Sunday morning could participate. As it got bigger and more chaotic, the number of participants had to be limited at some point. Before the parade, the women's society Cain's Merry Widows, founded in 1974, visits the grave site in black mourning gowns with veils, lays a wreath and laments about their "deceased husband". She then wanders to his former home on Augusta Street to offer a toast and eulogy for her "beloved Joe". Meanwhile, they continuously argue about which widow was his favorite. In the end, she leads the parade.

The De Leon Carnival Association crowned Daniel E. Huger as Felix I, the first regent in 1872. The Mobile Carnival Association (MCA) also began to organize. Carnival colors, songs and flags that first appeared in New Orleans were soon adapted in Mobile. 1883, which was formed Excelsior band to Slacabamorinico to follow in his annual parade. The band played until 2001 and then had to quit for financial reasons. In 1890, the Mobile Women Mystics, the first women’s society, organized their first carnival ball. In 1892, the meanings of the carnival colors were announced at the King's Parade. Purple stands for justice, gold for strength and green for trust / belief. Ethel Hodgson was named the first queen in 1893. In 1894, the Order of the Doves , the first black carnival society, held their first ball. In 1898 a second carnival company crowned Felix II, and in 1899 Mardi Gras became the coldest with around minus 10 degrees. Because of the temperatures, the Krewe of Proteus postponed its parade to the first Friday in Lent.

During the First World War , almost all carnival activities were suspended: only a few balls were held; everything had ceased by 1920. From 1927 until today, the MCA will be the Mardi Gras King Felix III. crowned. 1940, the king was Elexis I called. The organization later became the Mobile Area Mardi Gras Association (MAMGA), and the mayor of the Grand Marshal . After the USA entered the war in World War II , no parades were held from 1942 to 1945, but a few celebrations.

After seeing the Zulu Parade in New Orleans, AS May founded the Knights of May Zulu Club , a community of African Americans , in Mobile, and held the first black parade in Mobile in 1938. Several black organizations were formed the following year. The Mobile Colored Carnival Association appointed a king and a queen and elected the Mayor of Colored Mobile ("Mayor of the Colored Mobile"). In 1947 the Mobile Colored Carnival Association criticized the Zulu appearances as undignified. Her longtime President WL Russell said the jitterbug should not be danced at his Queen's Coronation Ball and blackface makeup is not allowed during the parade . Johnie J. Smith, aka King Zulu, was not interested in such arguments. This conflict, which was not taken seriously, was a sign of the changing self-perception of blacks. In Mobile, the Zulu Guild held its last parade in 1952. In 1961, 14 years after this initial conflict, the New Orleans Krewe of Zulu began to break up, almost wiped out by the civil rights movement as its vaudeville style conflicted with modern society.

literature

  • Charles Gatewood: Badlands. Photographs. Goliath, Frankfurt / Main 1999, ISBN 3-9805876-4-9 . Photos from Mardi Gras in New Orleans from various years between 1970 and 1992 on pages 131–161.
  • Sophie White: Massacre, Mardi Gras, and Torture in Early New Orleans In: The William and Mary Quarterly, 70 (2013), pp. 497-538.

Web links

Commons : Mardi Gras  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. a b c MARDI GRAS - MOBILE'S PARADOXICAL PARTY , jacksonsnyder.com
  2. ^ Sue Walker: Mardi Gras , in: St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture , Gale Group, 2002; at findarticles.com
  3. MG-time New Orleans & Mardi Gras History Timeline ( Memento of the original from November 24, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , mardigrasdigest.com, 2002-2009 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.mardigrasdigest.com
  4. a b c d e f Mobile, Ala Mardi Gras History Timeline ( Memento of the original from February 10, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , mardigrasdigest.com, 2007 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.mardigrasdigest.com
  5. a b c d Jeff Sessions, Senator: Mardi Gras in Mobile , Local Legacies lcweb2.loc.gov, 2006
  6. ^ History of Mardi Gras , mobile.org (Mobile Bay)
  7. ^ Joseph Stillwell Cain, Jr in the Find a Grave database . Retrieved September 15, 2017.
  8. Chain's Merry Widows website