Ocean Springs

Mardi Gras Celebrations in the United States predates the country itself. There is always a great deal of arguing over Mardi gras, who started it here in the U.S. and what different traditional aspects of the celebration really mean. This is a function of modernity since our local ancestors would have had no such difficulty in recognizing both the origin and meaning of the traditional Mardi Gras celebration.

The traditional Mardi Gras celebration begins with a festival site. It is from here that a parade ‘rolls’ through the city streets calling residents to the festival. This was a pragmatic activity in recognition of the communication limitations of the time. The parade ends its route back at the festival site, where it began, and the festival commences.

While there are many variations to Mardi Gras celebrations, in its purest form, this is how it is done. It is in this tradition that the ‘Mystic Societies’ in Mobile, AL, who begin their journey at the civic center, parade through the streets of downtown and return to the civic center to host their ball.

The ‘throws,’ costumes, floats and masks are all additions made over time, some for very pragmatic reasons. It is these traditions that set Mardi Gras apart from Canivale celebrations, although both celebrate the same religious practices.

Mardi Gras or “Fat Tuesday” is directed associated with Lent, the forty-day period during which carnal indulgences are sacrificed in remembrance of Jesus Christ’s temptation by Satan in the desert[1]. Lent begins on Ash Wednesday and ends with Easter celebrations. Mardi Gras day is the last opportunity to enjoy those cardinal indulgences.

But the Lenten celebration is only part of the Mardi Gras history. Twelfth Night is the eve of the Epiphany and concludes the celebration of the Twelve Days of Christmas[2]. Its influence cannot be understated, for it is from this holy-day, that many of Mardi Gras’ traditions actually come. 

Within Orthodox religions, the ‘twelfth Night” after Christmas is celebrated through the exchange of gifts. This tradition would later be ‘moved’ to Christmas day itself, which until then had been a solemn religious ceremony. In European countries the celebration was centered on the gathering of friends and families to share in food and drink.

The highlight of the celebration was the baking of the ‘twelfth night’ cake which contained a bean or pea, the recipient of which was crowned King or Queen for the evening. Often referred to as the “King’s Cake’ by children, the tradition would later become synonymous with Mardi Gras festivities.  Of course in the modern era the bean or pea has been replaced with a small plastic infant, often believed to represent the baby-Jesus.

The first Mardi Gras celebration in what is now the United States was celebrated on March 03, 1699 by Pierre le Moyne D’Iberville and his scouting party at Pointe du Mardi Gras (LA)[3].

While Louisiana, the entire area between the Rocky and Alleghenies Mountains had been claimed by France through the exploration of Renee Robert Cavelier, Sieur de la Salle in 1682, D’Iberville choose a narrow peninsula on the east side of Biloxi Bay as the site of his first settlement, Fort Maurepas (1699). [4]

The settlement was called Biloxey, after the Biloxey Indians, a Sioux-nation tribe that lived along the banks of the Pascagoula River, in what is now Gautier, MS. While the French troops would move on to locate in present –day Mobile, they returned a few years later to the West-side of the Biloxi Bay. The original settlement was referred to as Vieux-Biloxi, or what is now Ocean Springs, and the later settlement (Nouveau Biloxey) became present-day Biloxi, MS.

In 1702 D’Iberville moved the French garrison from Ocean Springs to a site on the Mobile River, abandoning Fort Maurepas. He named the new area La Mobile, once again after the local Indians the Mauvillas, and the settlement was proclaimed the Capital of Louisiana in 1704. [5]

That same year the Soceite de Saint Louise[6] was formed at Fort Louis de la Mobile and held a festival entitled “Masque de la Mobile.” This masquerade ball continued each August until 1709[7].

In 1710 the Societe de Saint Louis held a festival in Mobile entitled “boeuf gras” or “fatted ox,”[8] on Shrove Tuesday, the day before Ash Wednesday[9]. This lead to the creation of the Boeuf Graf Society, which a year later held a parade.

In 1720, the French returned to Biloxi, this time to the west-side of the bay which they called “Nouveau Biloxey”[10], and proclaimed the city the Capital of Louisiana[11]. In 1723, the capital was moved to Nouvelle Orle’ans[12], a newer settlement founded only a few year’s earlier, near the mouth of the Mississippi River.

In 1793 the “Spanish Mystics Organization” is formed and hosts a “twelfth night” (epiphany) parade in Mobile. The meaning of the name of this organization would not have been lost upon the population of the time. “The Spanish Mystics of Spain” had been

primarily religious leaders and writers, including St Ignatius of Loyola, who were involved in the reformation of the Roman Catholic Church during the 16^th and 17th centuries.

No doubt this was a Spanish attempt to introduce piety back into what had been religious celebrations. What had occurred, relative to both ‘Twelfth Night’ and “Fat Tuesday” in French Louisiana between 1710 and 1793, had had nothing to do with piety.

The French garrison was often drunk, as cited by D’Iberville himself as one reason for moving to Mobile and while Nouveau Biloxey had a beach lined with both concessions[13] and brothels as early as 1719, nowhere was debauchery more prevalent than New Orleans.

The “Spanish Mystics” which appear to have been influenced by, if not actually from Pensacola, FL, held an orderly parade[14] in Mobile 1793, while festivities in New Orleans continued more as mere ‘gatherings’ which often deteriorated into drunken brawls.

Pensacola had been settled by Spain in 1559 and was the first European settlement in the continental United States.[15] By the mid-1700’s France and Spain had ended hostilities between themselves and focused on a common enemy, Britain.

As this was the boundary between French and Spanish colonies, newly allied military commanders and merchants routinely traveled between the cities of Mobile and Pensacola and “Spanish Mysticism” crept into Mobile’s consciousness.

The ‘purer’ French settlement at New Orleans ‘suffered’ no such influence, having long ago forgotten the religious roots of its celebrations. While New Orleans has become the best known and largest of the Mardi Gras celebrations, it is a dubious honor.

It is Mobile that has maintained its reputation as the “America’s Family Mardi Gras,”[16] a place where spectators of all ages can watch the parade in relative safety. Even today, proper New Orleans families still travel to Mobile to observe Mardi Gras rather than staying at home and enduring the often lawless and drunken celebrations there.

While neither celebration displays a religious aspect any longer, there is a continuing stark difference in the celebrations, despite the shared traditions.

The influence that these two cities would have on one another’s celebrations continued well beyond the Boeuf Gras celebrations of the 18^th century and their Mardi Gras traditions would continue to influence not only their own celebrations but those of the twice-abandoned Biloxi, and the former Spanish settlements of Pensacola (FL), first

celebrated in 1874 [17]and Galvez Town, later Galveston, TX, which held their first parade in 1871.[18](Galveston, TX)

In 1830 the Cowbellion de Rankin Society[19] parades for the first time in Mobile, but on New Year’s not Mardi Gras day. Started by a cotton factor, participants carried rakes, hoes and cowbells, plundered from a local hardware store through the streets. But the Cowbellions de Rankin were soon to appear in New Orleans as the Mobile newspaper reports that the Cowbellion de Rankin paraded through the streets of New Orleans in 1835[20]  in what may have been the City of New Orleans first organized parade[21]. In 1840, the group presents a tableau pageant in Mobile and hosts their first ball in 1852.[22]

In 1841, the Company of Bedouins Society is formed in New Orleans. Made up of creoles, the group has celebrated Mardi Gras with impromptu parades since the 1820’s but this is their first organized Mardi Gras parade in new Orleans. [23]

Denied entry into the Cowbellion de Rankin Society as being ‘unfit’ socially, a group forms the Strikers Independent Society[24]in 1842. It is Mobile’s second Mystic Organization[25] and initially a bachelor’s only society who, like the Cowbellion, paraded on New Year’s day[26].

By 1852, both the ‘Cowbellion’ and ‘Strikers’ are hosting annual balls[27][28] and carnival season is expanded to include Mardi Gras parades in the City of Mobile.

By 1855 the Cities of Mobile and New Orleans are routinely exchanging and hosting one another’s Mardi Gras societies[29] but trouble occurs during New Orleans’s celebration when several ‘maskers’ are arrested for various infractions, most involving drunkenness.

In one infamous incident, a woman and child were nearly killed by a ‘mummer’ (a masked merrymaker[30]) on horseback[31] and the local newspaper L’Abeille de la Nouvelle-Orléans[32]  (‘The Bee’) proclaims Mardi Gras dead in New Orleans as a result of all the ‘savagery.’[33]

In 1856 six New Orleans businessmen, all formerly of Mobile and one a Cowbellion de Rankin Society member[34], gathered and decide to celebrate and observe Mardi Gras in a “less crude fashion” than that displayed in News Orleans during recent years.

They formed the New Orleans Cowbellion, which unlike their Mobile namesakes, paraded on Mardi Gras evening via torchlight. The following year, the New Orleans Cowbellion is joined by 13 members[35] of Mobile’s Strikers Independent Society to form the Mistick Krewe of Comus.[36] Comus set several ‘firsts’ as they were the first organization to use the term “Krewe”[37]. 

The use of the term ‘Krewe’ has become a tradition in New Orleans, just as the use of the term ‘Mystics,’ from the “Spanish Mystics,” has become tradition in Mobile.  Galveston’s first organizations, both in 1871, choose the term ‘Knights’ in their titles[38] although many of their contemporaries have departed from this tradition.

Comus is also the first organization to be ‘themed,’ taking its name from the John Milton poem “A Maske Presented at Ludlow Castle” (1634) from which the organization made archaic use of the word ‘crew.’ Other firsts include the use of carnival ‘floats’ during parades, as opposed to wagons and immediately following the parade with a tableau ball.

While the French introduced the celebration of Mardi Gras to what would become the United States, as originally celebrated the festivities were not unlike those of many other countries. Carnavale is still celebrated throughout South America, the Caribbean and parts of Europe. The one event that would put a decidedly American spin on the holiday, and forever separate Mardi Gras from Carnival was the U.S. Civil War.

Like the institution of Mardi Gras itself, no city would have a greater influence on the transition from the international holiday of Carnavale to the American holiday of Mardi Gras, than the experiences of the City of Mobile.

In early January 1861 Mississippi seceded from the Union followed by Alabama and then Louisiana[39]. While all three states contributed to the Confederate effort, no city proved more difficult in its resolve and a bigger thorn in the side of the U.S. Navy than Mobile.

With the institution of a U.S. naval blockage in the Spring of 1861, Ship Island, MS was quickly invaded by the U.S. Marines and provided the Union an ‘jumping –off’ point for operations against the ports of both Mobile and New Orleans.  In May 1862 New Orleans was captured and by the end of 1862 all but three Confederate ports had fallen to the Union Naval forces[40].  In 1863 only one Confederate port remained in operation along the Gulf of Mexico and by 1864 it was the only Confederate port at all. It was Mobile.

Not only did Mobile refuse to fall to the Union blockade[41], they obstinately continued to produce war materials.

The world’s first operational submarine the “CSS Hunley[42]” which successfully sank the USS Housatoni in Charleston, SC, was assembled at the Mobile Pulley Works.

The Conning Sword Company operated by a local silversmith and former New Yorker James Conning[43], produced swords of such quality that his products were highly sought after by both Confederate and Union Officers. Despite the war and blockade, Union Officers would still write Conning in the hope of ordering his swords.

The Virginia Avenue Cannon Foundry continued to produce armaments for the Confederacy and for export to both the British and French, and cotton shipments flowed from Mobile to British textile factories in England, albeit at a much slower rate than before.

It was little wonder then, that more than two years after the fall of New Orleans, and as the last remaining Confederate port, Mobile had the full attention of the entire U.S. Navy.

Although he never actually said it like this,  when U.S. Admiral Farraguat[44] made his reported cry, “damn the torpedoes, full steam ahead,” Mobilians could have hardly known what was in store for them.

The Battle of Mobile Bay was ferocious. After days of naval shelling and only when threatened with complete destruction, the city surrendered. It was a long and costly campaign, taking almost fours years and costing the U.S. Navy dozens of warships.

When Union Forces entered Mobile, they were particularly ‘unkind’ and their arrival resulted in the immediate and draconian occupation of the city. An occupation that would far outlast the occupation of other port-cities of the Confederacy, many of which after surrounding port facilities were never even occupied.

Mardi Gras celebrations in both Mobile and New Orleans had stopped during the civil war as men were gone to war and materials scarce. the Confederate war-effort could hardly sustain such traditions. But with the war winding-down the Cowbellions da Rankin’ paraded on New Year’s Day 1865. It would be their last.

While it would be another two months before Lee’s surrender at Appomattox, when the Cowbellions took to the streets Mobilians were looking forward to things returning to a new ‘normal.’ Two events would occur that would forever change Mobile, prolong the occupation and delay ‘reconstruction.’ It would also give birth to a Mardi Gras ‘legend.’

The Assassination of President Lincoln April 1865[45] caused Federal forces to double their efforts against insurrection. Mobile already enjoyed severe occupation policies. Its defiance during the war had convinced military authorities that if there were an organized counter-insurgency by the Confederacy, it was likely to begin in Mobile. Lincoln’s death and Andrew Johnson’s inauguration only made things worse.

A southerner by birth, Johnson was the U.S. Senator from Tennessee at the beginning of the civil war.[46] While he defended the practice of slavery, when Tennessee seceded from the Union, Johnson refused to go with them. He was in fact, the only U.S. Senator from a succession state that refused to support his state’s decision and he remained in the U.S. Senate.

A stanch Unionist, Lincoln appointed Johnson military Governor over Tennessee in 1862, where he enacted strict dictatorial rule. When he became President, any city remaining under occupation found themselves under new even stricter rules, including the ‘gathering laws’ which prohibited public events and meetings.

A few weeks later, just as these new polices were just coming into force, 200 tons of munitions at a U.S. Army storage depot in the center of downtown Mobile exploded[47]. The explosion and ensuing fires killed more than three hundred, injured almost a thousand others and damaged more than half the structures in the city. Until Sept 11, 2001 it was considered the greatest man-made disaster in U.S. history.

U.S. Army Commanders already worried about insurrection, dismayed by Lincoln’s assassination and confronted with the horror and misery in Mobile, extended the occupation policies in Mobile. It was from the literal smoke and ashes of the city that a hero emerged.

The legend comes in many variations but as presented from generation to generation goes something like this.

Joe Cain was little more than-the-town drunk when in the early morning hours of Mardi Gras day 1866, the very eve of the Union troops withdrawing from the city and angered by the occupation by Union troops, made one last impromptu protest by stealing a coal wagon, dressing himself as an Indian and parading through downtown Mobile in a drunken rage, closely pursued by hapless Union troops always one step behind.

Virtually nothing in this legend is true.

Joe Cain was not a drunk; he was not alone; his parade was not impromptu; nor was its purpose to simply taunt the Union troops; the Union troops weren’t leaving; it wasn’t at night; he didn’t steal a ‘coal’ wagon; wasn’t chased through the streets.

Joseph Stillwell Cain Jr was born to a modest but respected Mobile family. In 1865 he was a store clerk of age 33, although some accounts refer to him as a ‘shop owner.’

Employee or owner, Joe Cain had watched with horror to what had happened to Mobile.

The war, food shortages due to the blockade, and open attempts to inflict trauma and break the will of the city during occupation had taken its toll of the city’s psyche; then the explosion.

Just a few months before, everything seemed to be ‘on-the-mend.’ The war was coming to a close and despite the hardships; people had become ecstatic with the return of their beloved ‘Cowbellions.’ Now all that was gone and the agonies of the war and the newfound tragedies of the explosion had returned Mobile to the dull-drums.

Joe knew what the city needed and it needed a parade!

He also knew that he needed to be very careful as it was still illegal for people to gather in large numbers and even the smallest of meetings would attract the attention of military authorities. Joe formulated a methodical plan, involving only his most trusted friends. A plan that would re-energize the city and one that he would work on through the winter of 1865-66.

On the afternoon of Mardi Gras, 1866 Joe Cain and six friends, often referred to as “other Confederate veterans” crept out of Wragg Swamp, the area in which the Springdale Mall is now constructed, and made their way down Dauphin St to downtown.

Joe dressed himself as a fictitious Chickasaw Indian chief, which he named Slaca-ba- morinico. The entire made-up persona was a backhanded insult to the Union forces.

The Chickasaw Indians had never been defeated by or surrendered to U.S. forces. It was a well known and public failure on the part of the occupying forces and Joe’s choice of costume over rhetoric demonstrates just how smart he was about his endeavors. The others in the group wore carefully constructed masks to conceal their identity.

Opposition to the Union or its occupation policies was considered treasonous[48] and contrary to the Amnesty Oath[49] that Southerners had been required to accept after the Confederacy’s surrender. Violation of the Acts would summarily result in execution. Instead of vocally opposing the occupation forces, Joe let his costume do the talking for him.

But that wasn’t the real reason for the parade in the first place. Joe was more interested in lifting the spirits of Mobilians than insulting the Union. Joe was out to ‘raise Cain’ a biblical reference in itself, the term was getting a new contemporary meaning, all because of Joe.

As the group moved along the roadway they participated in the familiar antics of the Cowbellions. Ringing bells and clanging pots, pans and tools together as noisemakers.

Residents and merchants came to their doorways to see what the commotion was as the gathering approached.

They were delighted by the site of the men ‘carrying on’ and when asked what they’d been drinking the group replied, “Mystic Tea.”

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Later the group would sometimes be identified as the Tea Drinkers Mystic Society[51].They had decorated a horse-drawn wagon that Joe had borrowed from a merchant that delivered supplies to his place of business, and it was inside that they stored their ‘secret brew” of ‘tea.’

The group rumbled on through downtown. More or less, everyone was amused, including the pickets; who despite the ‘stinging insult’ of Joe’s fictitious persona were content to let things play out on their own

The small group of masked men and the ‘Indian’ didn’t seem particularly dangerous and didn’t engage in any provocative actions. The response from the citizens made it clear that should they have intervened anyway, that the situation would have quickly escalated into riots. Any violations that Joe and his society were engaged in, including their public drunkenness, simply weren’t worth the trouble.

The “Joe Cain” parade was a huge success. Everyone seemed to enjoy it, except for Union Commanders which upon investigation found no prosecutable offenses. At least for the day, people in Mobile were relieved from the misery of the war.

While Joe Cain himself would become a local Mardi Gras institution in his time, it would be 100 years before Joe would be resurrected and the true myth of Joe would begin.

In the meantime Joe and 11 additional Confederate veterans returned to parade the following year, this time with a new name. The 17 man procession took to the streets with drums and horns, calling themselves the “Lost Cause Minstrels.” A not so vague reference to the Southern defeat.

The group will return the following year and every year since as the “Order of Myths” (OOM) Mobile’s oldest continuing Mystic Society.  The OOM’s pay homage to their predecessors and recognize the horrors surrounding their founding during the civil war with a single float in every one of their parades.

Each year the last float, in the last parade of the Mobile Mardi Gras season is a rather small float containing but a single broken marble column, representing the devastated and defeated ‘South.’

Around this column a character, “Folly” chases after the Grim Reaper, taunting and striking him. “Folly chases Death” is the continuing reference to the ‘Lost Cause’ and a promise to never forget, nor fully submit, to the Union victory.[52]

Joe Cain’s efforts not only revitalize Mardi Gras but are the foundation for many Mardi Gras traditions, perhaps most importantly the Mardi Gras mask.

Masks had been worn during Mardi Gras celebrations since its origins but not universally and usually only as part of the costume. The ‘Lost Cause Minstrels’ needed to conceal their identity from Federal authorities, although they were not expressly part of the ‘Minstrels’ wardrobe.

‘Curtain Mask’, masquerade masks with fabric veil attached to the bottom to better conceal the identity of the wearer were worn for many years and can still be found in use. However, they were of poor use for the ‘Minstrels’ who concealed their identities using flour sacks that completely covered their heads.

The contemporary Mardi Gras mask is a full face mask and is expressionless in its appearance. Its hollow expression is a reminder of the battle-worn and hopeless residents of Mobile during occupation .

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It is considered ‘poor form” to decorate or “individualize” your mask, the entire point being that all maskers should appear the same so that no one masker can be identified, an important consideration when avoiding arrest.

In 1868, Mobile’s second contemporary Mystic Society begins to parade[54]. The Infant Mystics (IM), ‘exploit’ the ratification of the Reconstruction Constitution, and take to

the streets in merriment on Mardi Gras day, just prior to the OOM’s parade. They continue to do so, parading on the Monday evening prior to Mardi Gras Day.

In 1871 the Knights of Momus and the Knights of Myths present competing Mardi Gras parades in downtown Galveston, with the Knights of Myth[55] ending at Casino Hall and hosting a fabulous gala. The parades would continue into the 1880’s before being discontinued.

That same year, Rex forms in New Orleans. Originally Rex was formed to put on a single parade in 1872 during the visit of Grand Duke Alexis of Russia, by a local businessman trying to promote economic growth in New Orleans[56]. In fact the organization’s name isn’t even Rex, but rather “The School of Design[57]”.

Rex would go on to repeat their parade annually and continues to do so. Rex is attributed with many Mardi Gras traditions including the concept of a “King” to rule over the celebrations.

In 1883 the Excelsior Band[58] is formed and begins to follow the OOM’s, a tradition that will continue for 118 years. 

The following year 1884, “The Comic Cowboys” makes their way into the Mardi Gras celebrations in Mobile, providing a satirical procession with manages to insult just about everyone’s ‘sensibilities’. The tradition continues and the Comic Cowboys parade mid-day Mardi Gras Day.

In 1890 the first woman’s mystic society, Mobile Women Mystics, is formed and host a ball.

 In 1892 Rex “codifies” the Mardi Gras flag as being a series of horizontal strips from top to bottom purple (justice) gold (power) and green (faith). Like many traditions the flag was imported from Mobile where it had appeared during the Civil War[59].

In Mobile during the war, shop-keeps and local residents flew a flag with three horizontal stripes, purple for justice and gold for power, as a symbol of southern strength. Its use was not specific to Mardi Gras, but in the late 1860’s had become synonymous with it.

Use of the flag was prohibited during occupation and flying it was considered an act of treason. When occupation ended, Mobilians would ‘dust off’ their flags and fly them during Mardi Gras in support of the “Lost Cause” as represented by the OOM’s.

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The tradition caught on and Rex replaced the bottom purple bar with a green bar, representing faith, to identify themselves as New Orleanians, not Mobilians.

[61]

It is considered very poor form for Mobilians to display the more common purple, gold and green flag “of New Orleans” as a proper Mobilians would simply know better.

Other cities have followed the tradition of altering the flag to their own use. By tradition as the flag is altered for a specific location’s use the city’s name is placed in the center of the center stripe.

The City of Fairhope, AL displays a flag containing three vertical stripes (purple, green, purple) and a jester.

[62]

The flag in use in the City of Ocean Springs contains three vertical stripes (purple/gold/purple) with the city's trademark fleur d'lis in it's center.

                                 Ocean Springs Mississippi

In 1894 the first black carnival society, the Order of Doves holds their first ball in Mobile[63].

While in New Orleans in 1909 the Tramps Social Aid and Pleasure Club is formed. It is illegal for blacks to use the main thoroughfares for parades in New Orleans and they confine their activities to ‘backstreets.’ They continue to parade but in 1916 appear for the first time using their new name, Zulu Social Aid and Pleasure Club.

In 1921 the Crewe of Columbus is formed in Mobile[64] and begins their annual parade (1922). They are a very unique organization, for many Catholics found themselves conflicted about joining ‘mystic societies.’

Membership in these organizations was often restrictive and some Catholics believed that joining them would violate the church’s prohibition against membership in secret societies.

A group of Knights of Columbus, itself a sanctioned catholic lay organization, organized and formed the Crewe of Columbus, relieving Catholics of any concerns about joining a Mardi Gras organization. They continue to parade on the Friday evening before Mardi Gras Day in Mobile.

The ‘Crewe’ is also considered the last of the ol’ line organizations, a term reserved to describe the oldest of the Mystic Societies and Mardi Gras Krewes. Although new groups would continue to spring up in both New Orleans and Mobile, they often did so in waves.

In 1948 the Mystics of Time parade in Mobile for the first time and in 1949 a woman-only organization, the Polka Dots, parades in Mobile for the first time. That same year, Mobile’s second woman-only organization, the Maids of Mirth is formed.

The second great wave of societies and organizations begins in the late 1960’s with the ‘return’ of Joe Cain and the incarnation of the ‘super-krewes.’

In 1967 a Mobile folk-singer, historian and writer Julian Rayford[65] set out change Mardi Gras and bring recognition to the man that had revived it after the ravages of the Civil War.

He successfully petitioned for the disinterment of both Joe Cain and his wife from their resting place in Bayou La Batre and had them re-interred at the Church Street Cemetery in Mobile; despite the fact that the cemetery had been closed to burials since 1898.

In 1968, in an event sponsored by the Order of Incas (Mobile) Rayford staged the first Joe Cain Procession, dressing himself as Joe Cain a.k.a. Chief Slacabamorinico.

He was followed by “Cain's Merry Widows” a mysterious group of ‘women’ devoted to remembering Joe and while dressed in black, follow the procession throwing black roses.  The ‘Joe Cain Procession’ is often referred to as the ‘people’s parade’ for unlike the Mystic Societies’ parades; anyone can enter a float or marching group into the procession.

The ‘Procession’ continues the Sunday before Mardi Gras each year beginning at Joe’s graveside at the Church Street Cemetery and winding its way through downtown Mobile. Rayford himself was granted special exception and was buried next to Joe Cain, and is the last entrant into the cemetery.

But 1967 wasn’t a revival year just for Mobile. In New Orleans the Krewe of Bacchus reorganized and introduced New Orleans’ first ‘super-krewe.’

 ‘Bacchus[66]’ had actually been started in the late 1940’s by restaurateur Owen Brennan, when he recognized the angst of New Orleans tourist at being denied entry into the ‘Krewe’ balls. At the time the Krewes remained very secretive and only New Orleans’ social elite were availed of tickets to their balls.

Tourist, who enjoyed the parades enough, nonetheless found themselves ‘locked’ out of the balls and Brennan set out to change this by hosting two ‘Bacchus Carnival Balls’ in 1949 and 1950, which were open to anyone that could afford the tickets and the attire.

Unfortunately, Brennan was unable to continue his efforts due to health problems and he died in 1955. In 1968 the ‘Krewe of Bacchus’ re-organized itself, under familiar

leadership, “Pip” Brennan, Owen’s son. The following year ‘Bacchus’ took to the streets and introduced the concept of a national celebrity king.

Just as the ‘Joe Cain Procession’ had made it possible for anyone to join a ‘krewe’, even if for only a day in Mobile, Bacchus replaced the pageantry of the ol’ line societies with streamlined membership and instant parade participation.

‘Bacchus’ not only ‘challenged’ the ol’ line societies but called on others to follow their lead in creating additional ‘super-krewes.’  In 1974, the Krewe of Endymion accepted the challenge and took to the New Orleans’ streets as its second ‘super-krewe.’

In the mid-80’s a third wave began and continues to this day. With the revival of Mardi Gras celebrations in Alexandria, LA, Baton Rouge, LA, Galveston, TX and Pensacola, FL and the continuing emergence of new ‘krewes’ in Mobile (Pharaoh Mystic society 1985) and along the gulf coast in cities like Ocean Springs (OSCA-Mystics of Discovery 2009) Mardi Gras continues to grow and support its uniquely American celebration of Carnival.