History of Mardi Gras
If there never had been a Mardi Gras celebration ever before in history, New Orleans would have invented it. "The City That Care Forgot," "The Big Easy" – these are well-earned expressions that refer to the laidback, party atmosphere that permeates every level of New Orleans society. We celebrate more festivals and other causes for celebrations than any other place on earth. Maybe it's the jazz that was first created here; maybe it's the food that combined the finest European traditions with incredible local ingredients like crawfish, crabs, shrimp; maybe it's the melting pot of immigrants upon which this major port city was built – whatever it is, the most extraordinary thing about New Orleans is MARDI GRAS!
Mardi Gras in North America actually began in 1699, before the city of New Orleans herself was founded. French explorers Iberville and Bienville, the Le Moyne brothers, and their crew had weathered formidable gale force winds and storms, logs, and other impediments as they made their way up the mouth of the Mississippi River. Exhausted, they camped and took notice of the calendar, which showed that it was Mardi Gras. They named the encampment "Pointe du Mardi Gras," and celebrated being alive, having survived their rugged travails.
But it wasn't until years later, in the 1740's that Mardi Gras was celebrated with a parade. The French government officials had staged hedonistic balls and lavish dinners with gold plates, and had impressed the weary colony that was plagued by slave and Indian uprisings, hurricanes, floods, mosquitoes, and other unpleasantries. Maskers staged street processions that included carriages and costumed celebrants on horseback. The Mystick Krewe of Comus paraded for its second year in 1858 with 31 floats and maskers costumed as Jupiter, Minerva, Apollo, Janus, Flora, Pan, and Bacchus. 1871 saw the Twelfth Night Revellers introduce the first throws, while Comus in 1872 paraded in front of City Hall, decorated for the celebrated visit of the Grand Duke Alexis of Russia.
The Krewe of Rex, "The King of Carnival" as formed that same 1872 season, in time for the elaborate salute to the Russian Grand Duke Alexis Romanoff Alexandrovich. He was totally smitten with the charms and talent of a popular singer of the day, Lydia Thompson, who just happened to be performing in New Orleans at the time. A song of Lydia's that especially delighted his highness was "if Ever I cease To Love," a silly little ditty that Rex established as the theme song of Mardi Gras. "May cows lay eggs and fish get legs, if ever I cease to love" was purported to be the visiting royalty's favorite lyric from the tune.
After the grand successes of Comus, the god of revelry and mirth, the Krewe of Rex as founded, adding a more civic aspect than the more secretive Comus, and also established other significant Mardi Gras firsts that are still honored today. It was the first daytime parade, gave the celebration its first flag, and determined the colors of carnival: Purple of Justice, green for Faith, and Gold for Power. The Boeuf Gras float, or ‘fatted bull,' also paraded that milestone year in honor of an old custom, traced to 1512 in France, but probably much older. The Boeuf Gras is the symbol of the last meat eaten before the Lenten fast of 40 days.
Carnival itself dates back over 5,000 years, when the ancient Greeks and Romans celebrated a pagan pageant to welcome spring and made merry in hopes of good crops for the coming year. It evolved into the debauchery and excesses that drove the religious leadership to simply accept society's wishes to party heartily. The Italians coined the term "carnivale," or "farewell to the flesh," and Pope Gregory in the year 600 A.D. tied the celebration to the resurrection of Jesus, forty days before Easter, which accounts for Mardi Gras, "Fat Tuesday" occurring at fluctuating dates each year.
The first Rex parades established what New Orleans and the world has come to know and love about a first class carnival parade. Deep-seated in tradition, though mindful of civic and philanthropic responsibilities, Rex has always shown that it represents "The King of Carnival" in more ways than one.
In 1874, Rex established the tradition of its potentate's arrival by boat at the Canal Street docks amid grand pomp and circumstance. His majesty's float – and other floats of the day were actually built on the chassis of old flatbed cotton drays and other wooden wagons with hard-riding steel-rimmed wooden wheels. Mules, sporting white coverings, pulled the floats.
The celebration created many support industries, like massive costume and float and prop creators, catering, musicians, and other enterprises vital for each elaborate carnival ball and parading carnival krewe that all strived to out-do the others.
Canal Street became Mardi Gras' Main Street for generations, as the celebration grew each year. Satire, long established as a thematic carnival tradition, reigned supreme, as new krewes banded together to poke fun at local and national politicians. 1885 saw the founding of the very first Mardi Gras Indian Tribe – the Creole Wild West, which reflected the respect slaves had for the local tribes that gave them shelter when they escaped their masters – plus it was in keeping with the carnival tradition of flaunting authority. Many proud tribes still flourish today.
In the 1950's Mardi Gras was transformed to its current level through the talent and creative efforts of one man: Blaine Kern. Blaine Kern Artists was founded in 1947, and has grown to become the largest float building company in the world today. Blaine Kern began as a lowly apprentice to his father's sign painting business during the Great Depression of the ‘30's. His father, Roy Kern, was a fine artist who had to take jobs painting ships' names, smokestacks and anything else he could to make ends meet.
Blaine painted a mural in a hospital to help defray his mother's medical bills, and his talent caught the eye of a surgeon, Dr. Henry LaRocca. The doctor was the Captain of the Krewe of Alla, the largest parade organization on the West Bank of New Orleans. After his work on one float, Blaine was contracted to design and build his first carnival parade, and his talents were rewarded with offers that began pouring in. Alla led to Choctaw, Okeanos, and then the most prestigious parade of all, Rex. Then came Julu and a host of other krewes from New Orleans and surrounding communities. Kern today furnishes floats and props for over 40 parading organizations in the metro New Orleans area, plus parades at Universal Studios in Orlando, Philadelphia's Fourth of July Parade, City of Miami Beach Thanksgiving Day Parade and carnival parades in Cannes and Juan Les Pin, France, Japan and Korea.
Darwin Fenner, the Captain of Rex sent young Blaine to Italy to study their large-prop concepts, animation, and the European style of float building – and Mardi Gras has been more spectacular every year as a result.
An attractive offer soon came from Walt Disney for Blaine to join his growing artistic empire. It was tempting, but Kern's love for New Orleans and his passion to grow his company one more float and one more parade at a time overcame Disney's offer.
If New Orleans ever had a goodwill ambassador, it is Blaine Kern. For more than five decades, he has uplifted carnival in New Orleans to worldwide stature. New Orleans tourism leaders always point to Mardi Gras as being the city's biggest draw, thanks in great measure to "Mr. Mardi Gras." In fact, when letters addressed simply to "Mr. Mardi Gras" arrive at the New Orleans Post Office, they are routinely routed to Blaine Kern.
In 1968, Kern was a cofounder of the Krewe of Bacchus, one of the first non-traditional super-krewe organizations that brought Mardi Gras into the modern age. Bacchus' first parade in 1969 featured a new addition to carnival: the celebrity king. Kern began that tradition with Danny Kaye, and stars of the caliber of Bob Hope, Jackie Gleason, Raymond Burr, Phil Harris, Glenn Campbell, Perry Como, Ed McMahon, Ron Howard, Pete Fountain, Kirk Douglas, Lorne Greene, John Ritter, William Shatner, Jean Claude Van-Damme, Dick Clark, Drew Carey, Jim Belushi, Luke Perry, Larry King, Nicholas Cage, and other stars have added celebrity sparks to carnival parades ever since. The gigantic Krewe of Endymion, New Orleans' Krewe of Orpheus, and over forty other major parades are all Kern creations, also attracting the biggest names in show business. The creation in 1998 of the Leviathan, the largest float ever to appear in carnival history, showed that Kern never rests on his laurels. Topped in size the next year by Endymion's S. S Captain Eddie, a five-tandem float with hundreds of riders, it required the largest tractor in the world to power it down St. Charles Avenue to its final destination at the Endymion Extravaganza, held at the Louisiana Superdome.
In fact, one of Blaine's brainchildren was the concept of bringing spectacular parades indoors – an unprecedented approach. The former Rivergate (now the site of Harrah's Casino), the Superdome, and the Morial Convention Center have all been the post-parade party spots – with the parades actually finishing with lavish parties for riders and their families and guests inside the mammoth facilities.
The world-famous French Quarter, though no longer a route for parades since the larger floats appeared in the 1970's, is still a Mardi Gras mecca.
Carnival balls actually preceded street parading in New Orleans by over 100 years, with the French and Spanish hierarchy staging elaborate bal masques, or tableau balls. Krewe royalty, officers, and debutantes continue the tradition today, with themes presented for the club membership and honored guests. The kings are usually selected by the krewe leadership, but the queen has often been selected at random by krewes like the 12th Nigh Revelers, who let fate choose by Maids drawing a golden bean from a King Cake.
