Joy and Mirth Are Now to Reign

We think of Carnival or Mardi Gras as being a week or so before the beginning of Lent but in some cultures the Twelfth Night of Christmas – January 6th – signals the beginning of Carnival. In many major European centres it began the social season of dinners, dances, masked balls, musicales, new ballets, operas and plays (sometimes all on the same bill). It should then come as no surprise that the French influence meant that this tradition carried over to social life in Louisiana and particularly New Orleans. Epiphany/January 6th/12th Night is the day for Gateau de Roi (King Cake) and the beginning of Carnival .

There are several Jeanne’s in the parade but they all stop before the statue on Decatur Street to pay their respects. Photo by Michael DeMocker, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune

My friend Cecilia tells me that this year her Carnival began with a slice of King Cake and the first parade of the season by the Krewe of Jeanne d’Arc. The Krewe celebrates both the beginning of Carnival and the birthday of Joan of Arc with an old style walking parade. Their route takes them by the statue of the Saint on Decatur Street (above right) where they stop and sing Happy Birthday to the unofficial patron of New Orleans.

This year was the 11th annual Jeanne d’Arc parade but the custom of parading on the Twelfth Night after Christmas in New Orleans began back in 1870 with the appearance of the Twelfth Night Revellers. The second Krewe to be formed, they celebrated their arrival with an elaborate nine float parade that was quite the equal in splendour to the rival Comus parades. The pageant was followed by a festive gathering at the French Opera House with the usual tableaux vivants and dancing however the Revellers introduced two innovations to the festivities. The first was a grand march led by the Lord of Misrule as the King Cake was processed around the room. The second was the choosing of a Queen of the celebration. The opening march was a great success and became a fixture at most Mardi Gras balls. The second was truly innovative as women had previously been excluded from all but the dancing at these affairs. Though it too was readily adopted by all the societies the initial attempt did not quite go as planned.

The King Cake is born into the ballroom at the 12th Night Revellers celebration in 1878. Though the Krewe stopped parading in 1875 their mask balls continued to mark the beginning of the festivities.

The Four Court Fools paraded the huge King Cake into the centre of the floor. When the Cake was prepared a golden bean had been hidden inside and the lady receiving the gleaming legume in her slice of cake was to be hailed as Queen and rule over the evening. There was much anticipation, and no doubt some preening, in the boxes as the ladies waited patiently.

However the court fools were to live up to their name. No doubt because they had overindulged in liquid refreshments, they did not politely pass the slices according to plan. Instead they dropped them in the laps of the stunned recipients. In fact two of the more intoxicated jesters threw cake at the startled ladies in the parterre boxes.

The gallants who accompanied the King Cake on 12th Night in the festivities of 1878.

The ladies of the court were, to say the least, appalled at the proceedings and a few fled the room in disgust. As a protest, the lady who received the slice with the bean swallowed it, and the evening ended without a queen being crowned. Misrule had indeed been the order of the day.

The following year, when the court fools were better behaved, Mrs. Emma Butler discovered the golden bean in her slice. The cake had been presented to her in a gentil fashion and Mrs Butler graciously accepted the honour.

The current Twelfth Night Revellers reproduced the 1871 poster for last year’s celebration.

The 12th Night Revellers parade and tableaux for 1871 were even more splendid than the year before. Designed by the great Charles Briton it was entitled Mother Goose’s Tea Party. A mixture of floats, costumed marchers and “big heads” it was reported that “when it was found that the pageant was to represent the characters whom Mother Goose has made immortal, the delight of the spectators can better be imagined than described… “. The reporter goes on to say that “each new tableau was greeted with shouts of enthusiastic recognition from the innumerable throng.” Some of that enthusiastic shouts of recognition may have been because being Briton and being Carnival many of the characters made satirical reference to civic, state and national figures – popular and more often otherwise.

These charming sketches by Briton are amongst the earliest that have survived of Mardi Gras parade designs. Any satirical references, and in the years of Reconstruction the parades were a constant source of political comment, are lost to us today. A life click will take you to a slideshow for a closer look.

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  The Lord of Misrule is Mother Goose’s Coachman to the tea party.

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  And a fine feast it is too – Roast suckling pig, King Cake and wine – and teas.

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  The guest list includes many well known characters …..

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  … and a few who’s identity can only be guessed at.

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  King Cole has brought along the fiddlers for the dance and Mother Hubbard’s dog plays the flute.

Our reporter makes no mention of the choosing of a Queen or indeed the good manners of the fools. He does tell us that, “At the Opera House, the tableaux elicited the warmest applause, from one of the most brilliant audiences ever gathered within its walls. The ball which wound up the entertainment was a joyous termination to an event which will ever be pleasantly remembered by all who were present.”

On this day in 1297: François Grimaldi, disguised as a monk, leads his men to capture the fortress protecting the Rock of Monaco, establishing his family has the rulers of Monaco.

I Love A Parade – I

Particularly a Mardi Gras Parade; or more particularly a New Orleans Mardi Gras Parade from the Golden Age of Carnival (1870-1930). What exactly gives those sixty years a golden glow I’m not sure but the rich archives of the Louisiana State Library and the Tulane University Carnival Collection suggests a level of imagination, erudition, and sophistication that appeals.

I am astounded by the themes of many of the parades: Phases of Nature, The Rubaiyat, Glimpses of the modern world of art, Myths and Worships of the Chinese, Tennyson, Symbolism of Colors, and the list goes on with some of the most esoteric subjects imaginable. It would seem that the subjects were chosen to challenge the creativity of the artists involved in bring the subjects to life. Many of the creators of the fantastical floats, costumes and masks were unknown but four names stand out in the Golden Age: Charles Briton, Carlotta Bonnecasse, Bror Anders Wikstrom and Jennie Wilde.

For the next four Tuesdays I thought I’d highlight a parade by each of these remarkable creators of Mardi Gras magic starting with the earliest recognized artist: Charles Briton.

“The remains of Charles Briton, the artist, were laid away in Greenwood Cemetery on Wednesday morning. The deceased was forty-three years of age, a native of Gothenberg Sweden, and a resident of this city for twenty years. No person of his kindred was nigh, but neither in life nor death was he neglected.”

The Daily Picayune July 3, 1884.

Old King Cole and his Fiddlers Three, as seen by Charles Briton, process in the 12th Night Revellers’ Mother Goose’s Tea Party on January 6, 1871.  This is part of the earliest complete set of Mardi Gras designs known to exist.  

Briton was a colourful but reticent man with a hidden history. After his death a very unusual item was found amongst his belongings: a uniform which he wore(?) in Mexico as one of Prince Salm-Salm’s regiment, under the ill-fated Emperor Maximilian. After his time in Mexico he moved to New Orleans in the 1860s and launched a career as an architect.  Soon he became the designer of choice for the Mardi Gras parades and tableaux. The name of the artist was as often kept as secret as the membership of the Krewes but his first signed designs were for the Twelfth Night Revellers in 1871. By the time of his death in 1884 he was designing floats, costume, invitations and tableaux for the Revellers and the Rex, Momus, Comus and Proteus Krewes.

Charles Briton saw President Ulysses Grant as a tobacco grub in the Krewe of Comus 1873 Parade
Louisiana Research Collection
Tulane University

The Post-Reconstruction period was one of political turmoil in Louisiana and often the theme of a parade would be turned into a bitterly satirical jab at people and events. In 1873 Comus, the oldest of the Krewes, choose as their theme The Missing Links to Darwin’s Origin of Species. It was more than a swipe at Mr Darwin’s unpopular theories: many of the 100 big head masks of those “missing links” bore  resemblances to known personages from Baton Rouge to the White House.  As the torchlight parade marched past – there were no floats that year – it was easy to recognize President Grant as a Tobacco Grub, General Butler who had occupied the city with Federal troops as a Hyena, and other notables as foxes (carpetbaggers), serpents (turncoats), tomcats, and other grotesques.  The parade was blocked at Canal Street by a mob of angry jeering men and had to turn back.  The marchers made their way into the Varieties Theatre for the ball and tableau leaving some ten thousand disappointed spectators along the aborted route.

Sadly many of Briton’s early designs were simply discarded but through a stroke of good fortune all 101 watercolours from 1873 were saved.  They are now housed at the Howard Tilton Memorial Library at Tulane University and can be enjoyed at their Digital Library. Though many of the political targets are unknowns today, except to those with an in-depth knowledge of American history, the artistry is a thing of wonder.

The Bloody Shirt float from 1877:  Senator Oliver Morton as Satan is shown waving “the bloody shirt” to fan the flames of “Sectional Hate” during the Reconstruction.

Four years later Briton and the Krewe of Momus were to cause another scandal when they presented Hades, A Dream of Momus.  Again political figures and events were mocked and this time President Grant was enthroned as Beelzebub himself.  The final float was a sinking Ship of State manned by much hated politicians and business men from the State and up North.  The reaction of federal officials was immediate and the Governor wired an apology to the Louisiana representative in Washington.

But as well as the satiric and comic Briton was a designer of the mystic, dramatic and magical.  Over the years he created the wonders of Ancient Egyptian Theology, Military Progress of the World, The History of France, The Pursuit of Pleasure, and The Moors in Spain.  In the last year of his life he produced The Semitic Races for Rex, Illustrated Ireland for Comus, The Passions for Momus and The Aeneid for Proteus.  Sadly with the exception of his drawings of the Proteus parade nothing exists to give us a view of the imagination, wit, and knowledge that Briton brought to these very different subjects.

A much coveted invitation to the Krewe of Proteus Ball and Tableaux on February 26, 1884 at the French Opera House.

So here we are it’s dusk on February 26, 1884 – Shrove Monday – and the crowds have started to gather for the Krewe of Proteus Parade.  We managed get a great viewing spot:  a balcony on Canal Street.  The flambeaux carriers have lit their torches to give light to the proceedings, a brass band has begun to play and the first float is just coming into sight. Let’s follow Aeneas and his adventures from the Fall of Troy until he defeats Turnus and founds Rome.

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Since we’ve been given invitations to the Proteus Ball at the French Opera House we’ll just have time to change into our costumes and make our way through the crowds.  You have to admit the invitation that Charles Briton designed is quite special – you may even want to keep it for your scrap book.

And don’t forget you’re dance card. I understand they play until the early hours of the morning. However bear in mind that as guests we have to wait until Proteus and his Krewe have the first dance. But we can join in “The Lancers” and dance the night away.

 

The dances for the evening – 1884

The back of the dance card – 1884

The cover of the dance card – 1884

Most of the visuals in this post are from the exceptional Mardi Gras collection at Howard Tilton Memorial Library, Tulane University and Louisiana Digital Library.   And much of the research came from two of the Mardi Gras Treasures books by the doyen of Mardi Gras designers Henri Schindler which truly are treasures. 

On this day in 1579: The Union of Utrecht forms a Protestant republic in the Netherlands.