The Mistick Krewe of Comus (MKC), founded in 1856, is the oldest extant New Orleans, LouisianaCarnivalKrewe, the longest to continually parade with few interruptions from 1856 to 1991, and continues to hold a tableau ball for its members and guests, to date. Initially its public facade was The Pickwick Club.
Before Comus was organized Carnival celebrations in New Orleans were mostly confined to the CatholicCreole community, parades were irregular and often very informal. Bernard de Marigny changed that in 1833 with the first formally organized New Orleans Carnival parade and tableau ball. It was Comus who in 1856, organized by 6 ProtestantAnglo-Americans from the corresponding Uptown Neighborhoods (versus French Creole Vieux Carré), formalized the first continued observance of what we know today as New Orleans Mardi Gras or technically "Carnival" in New Orleans. French Catholics may have been invited thereafter, but sharp racial, ethnic, and class divides of New Orleans make it unlikely until later.
In 1991, the New Orleans City Council passed an ordinance that required social organizations to certify publicly that they did not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, gender, disability, or sexual orientation, in order to obtain parade permits and other public licensure.[1][2] The Comus organization (along with Momus and Proteus, other 19th-century Krewes) withdrew from parading rather than racially integrating.
History and formation
Mystick Krewe of Comus's initial invitation for membersBernard de Marigny de Mandeville
Building on the initial work of what French Creole American nobleman, and playboy, Bernard de Marigny had done in 1833, funding and organizing the first official Mardi Gras- a "parade" followed by a tableau ball celebration;[3][4][5] in December 1856, six Anglo-American men of New Orleans gathered at Dr. John Pope's Drug Store on the Corner of Jackson and Prytania, a favorite rendezvous for the young men of the Fourth District,[6] to begin to organize a secret society to observe Mardi Gras in a more formal and organized fashion than their Creole predecessors.[7][8][9][10] These men invited their businessmen friends, a group of some thirty to forty people, to meet at a club room above the now-defunct Gem Restaurant/Saloon in New Orleans' Vieux Carré on Jan 4, 1857, to organize the Carnival society.[8] The inspiration for the name came from John Milton's Lord of Misrule in his masqueComus. Part of the inspiration for the parade was a Mobile, Alabama, Carnival mystic society, with annual parades, called the Cowbellion de Rakin Society (from 1830),.[11]
Founding members: Samuel Manning Todd, a drygoods merchant from Utica, New York, who arrived in New Orleans by way of Mobile, Alabama, like a few others.[12][13] Frank Shaw, Jr., commission merchant from New York State; Lloyd Dulany Addison (son of Walter Dulany Addison, of the Oxon Hill Manor Addisons, members of the Tidewater gentry) born in Kentucky,[14] partner Bullitt, Miller & Co. merchants and cotton factors; Dr. John H. Pope, credited with naming the group, from New York State originally,[15] and Joseph Ellison, owned Pope, Ellison & Co., commission merchants-Pope was also a pharmacist owning Pope's Drugstore at the corner of Jackson and Prytania where this small coterie initially organized, he was born in Louisville, Kentucky; brother William Ellison, partner of firm Starke & Ellison, Cotton Brokers was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.[15]
The new group acquired the costumes, floats, flambeaux, and even theme — their very name, Comus — from the 1856 Cowbellion parade (Milton's "Paradise Lost"). There are also indications that Striker's Independent Society from Mobile, Alabama, were involved, and they went en masse to the first Comus event.
One Mardi Gras historian describes The Mistick Krewe's creation in New Orleans thus:
It was Comus, who, in 1857, saved and transformed the dying flame of the old Creole Carnival with his enchanter's cup; it was Comus who introduced torch-lit processions and thematic floats to Mardi Gras; and it was Comus who ritually closed, and still closes, the most cherished festivities of New Orleans with splendor and pomp.[16]
Comus' first night parade – replete with torches (which later came to be known as "flambeaux"), marching bands, and rolling floats – was wildly popular with Carnival revelers. So popular was the first Comus parade that the prospect of its second one attracted, for the first time, thousands of out-of-town visitors to New Orleans for the Carnival celebration.[17]
Grand Tableau of the Mistick Krewe - Harpers - New Orleans Mardi Gras 1873
Like that of other old established krewes, including Rex and Momus, Comus's history includes ties to white supremacy, particularly New Orleans's White League. Opposition to Reconstruction-era reforms prompted parade themes such as 1873's "The Missing Links to Darwin's Origin of Species" and 1877's "The Aryan Race".[18][19]
Parade
The Mistick Krewe presented a parade annually on the evening of Shrove Tuesday from 1857 to 1991 with some exceptions including during war. From 1885 to 1890 while the Mistick Krewe of Comus did not parade, the evening parade on Shrove Tuesday was the Krewe of Proteus. In 1890 Comus began parading again as the final parade on Mardi Gras with Proteus reverting to the evening of Lundi Gras.[20]
Parade themes
1992 No Parade Planned theme: Enchantments and Metamorphoses
1874 The Visit of Envoys from the Old World and New to the Court of Comus
1873 The Missing Links to Darwin's Origin of Species
1872 Dreams of Homer
1871 Spenser's Faerie Queen
1870 The History of Louisiana from 1539 to 1815
1869 The Fives Senses
1868 The Departure of Lalla Rookh from Dehli
1867 The Triumph of Epicurus
1866 The Past, Present, and Future
1865 No Parade - American Civil War
1864 No Parade - American Civil War
1863 No Parade - American Civil War
1862 No Parade - American Civil War
1861 The Four Ages of Life
1860 Statues of the Great Men of Our Country
1859 The English Holidays
1858 The Classic Pantheon
1857 The Demon Actors in Milton's Paradise Lost
Gallery
Costumes and floats
Female Eye 1869
Alligator 1873
Ass Costume Parade 1873
Bananas 1873
Bat 1873
Beetle 1873
Bloodhound 1873
Coral Polyp 1873
Fly 1873
Grasshopper 1873
Lion 1873
Scorpion 1873
Spider 1873
Amphitrite 1886
Offerings in Ancient Egypt 1886
Mercury 1886
Royalty in a Future Generation 1886
Corn Costume 1893
1894
1894
1897 Bulletin
Othello 1898
Macbeth 1989
Romeo and Juliet 1898
Bulletin Stories of the Golden Age 1900
Charlemagne 1909
COMUS 1910
1910
Al Borak 1910
Cadijah 1910
Cockerel 1910
King of Abyssinia 1910
The Cock 1910
The Koran 1910
The Mystic Shrine 1910
The Reward of the Faithful 1910
What Are The Wild Waves Saying 1911
Frog 1912
Invitations
1860
1861
1862
1866 Admittance Card
1867 Envelope
1867 Admittance card
1868 Admittance Card
1871
1877
1878
1880
1880 Admittance card
1881
1891
1893
1898
1899
1890
1899
1907
1907 Admittance card
1910
1914
1916 Admittance card
Parade
1858
Route 1859
1867
1873
COMUS 1934
1950's Parade
Programs
1857
1859 The Daily True Delta
1867
1925
1925
1927
Diamond Jubilee 1931
Tableau
1873
1875
1900
Respites from revelry
From the first Comus parade until a police strike in 1979, nothing suspended New Orleans' lavish Mardi Gras celebrations except war.[17] On March 1, 1862, Comus issued his first proclamation suspending Carnival revelry on account of war. On that day, the New Orleans Daily Picayune published this notice:
To Ye Mistick Krewe –
GREETINGS!
WHEREAS, War has cast its gloom over our happy homes and care usurped the place where joy is wont to hold its sway. Now, therefore, do I deeply sympathizing with the general anxiety, deem it proper to withhold your Annual Festival in this goodly Crescent City and by this proclamation do command no assemblage of the
-MISTICK KREWE-
Given under my hand this, the 1st day of March A.D. 1862. Comus
—Comus, inproclamation
Comus issued an identical proclamation in 1917 (for World War I), another in 1942 (for World War II), and again in 1951 (for the Korean War). On each occasion, the Captain of Comus persuaded the Captains of other Krewes to refrain from organized revelry during international hostilities.[8]
From 1885–1889, the Mistick Krewe chose not to parade, although other observances continued. During this period, the Krewe of Proteus moved its parade to Carnival night. When Comus resumed parading in 1890, Proteus refused a request to withdraw from parading on Mardi Gras night. The same year, the two parades collided on Canal Street, nearly reaching an impasse. As the Captains of the two groups exchanged defiant expressions, a Comus masker diverted the horse bearing the Captain of Proteus, and Comus was able to complete its procession.
Withdrawal from parading
In 1991 the New Orleans City Council, led by DemocratDorothy Mae Taylor, passed an ordinance that required social organizations, including Mardi Gras Krewes, to certify publicly that they did not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, gender, disability, or sexual orientation, in order to obtain parade permits and other public licensure.[1][2] The Comus organization (along with Momus and Proteus, other 19th-century Krewes) withdrew from parading, rather than racially integrating (Proteus returned to parading in 2000). Two federal courts later decided that the ordinance was an unconstitutional infringement on First Amendment rights of free association and an unwarranted intrusion into the privacy of the groups subject to the ordinance.[21] The Krewe of Comus never resumed its parading.[1][22]
The Pickwick Club Comus New Orleans The Selma Times Fri Jun 2 1882
It is generally known by now that the Pickwick Club, in its beginnings, was the public shield behind which the revelries of the Mistick Krewe were planned and executed. The two were one, but only the Club was known to the public, and the allegiance of the early Pickwickian to the Misktick Krewe was a sacred secret. The fame of each grew independently until distinction became necessary in 1884. The Krewe came first into being, but soon resolved itself into the Club,[23] in the same tradition as The Louisiana Club and the Knights of Momus along with The Stratford Club and the High Priests of Mithras carry one today.[24]
In the 20th and early 21st centuries, their membership is not identical; but it is believed that there are members common to both groups.
Carnival secrecy and exclusivity
The Mistick Krewe has jealously guarded the identities of its membership and the privacy of its activities (other than its parade), perhaps even more than the other Carnival organizations subscribing to the traditional code of secrecy.
Legend has it that admittance to the Mistick Krewe's ball was so highly sought-after that a group of uninvited ladies formed a flying wedge and attempted to force their way into the Comus ball. In other years, uninvited persons have tried to beg, buy, or steal invitations to the ball.[8]
Even after the Mystic Krewe of Comus ball is over, its invitations are prized by collectors. They are both rare and uncommonly beautiful.
Meeting of the courts
The Mistick Krewe of Comus also originated another Carnival tradition: the "Meeting of the Courts". The practice originated in 1882, when Rex (the King of Carnival) and his Queen paid a formal visit to the throne of Comus.[8] This ritualized meeting eventually evolved into the symbolic conclusion of the Mardi Gras season, a practice which continues to this day.
Although Rex is the titular King, some observers[who?] believe that the Meeting of the Courts – in which Rex leaves his own festivities and is received by a seated Comus at the Mistick Krewe's bal masque– establishes Comus as the more prestigious of the two organizations in the Carnival hierarchy.[citation needed]
Mardi Gras parades
The first Comus parade was held on Mardi Gras 1857, and this became an annual event. Other organizations sprang up in New Orleans in the 19th century, inspired by the Comus model, and also came to be known as Krewes.
Parading on Mardi Gras night, Comus was the final parade of the carnival season for over 100 years. It was much smaller and more sedate than the other parades of the day put on by Rex and the Zulu Social Aid & Pleasure Club.
The Comus parades became known for their sometimes obscure themes relating to ancient history and mythology. While other New Orleans parades, especially the newer super krewes of Endymion and Bacchus, might have a theme such as "Foods of the World" or "Broadway Show Tunes", Comus would present themes on the order of "Serpent Deities of the Ancient Near East".
Mardi Gras is the final day of Carnival or Shrovetide before Ash Wednesday. Mardi Gras is French for "Fat Tuesday", reflecting the practice of the last night of consuming rich, fatty foods in preparation for the fasting season of Lent.
A krewe is a social organization that stages parades and/or balls for the Carnival season. The term is best known for its association with Mardi Gras celebrations in New Orleans, but is also used in other Carnival celebrations throughout Louisiana and along the Gulf of Mexico, such as the Gasparilla Pirate Festival in Tampa, Florida, Springtime Tallahassee, and Krewe of Amalee in DeLand, Florida with the Mardi Gras on Mainstreet Parade as well as in La Crosse, Wisconsin and at the Saint Paul Winter Carnival.
Rex is a New Orleans Carnival Krewe which stages one of the city's most celebrated parades on Mardi Gras Day. Rex is Latin for "King", and Rex reigns as "The King of Carnival".
The holiday of Mardi Gras is celebrated in southern Louisiana, including the city of New Orleans. Celebrations are concentrated for about two weeks before and through Shrove Tuesday, the day before Ash Wednesday. Mardi Gras is French for Fat Tuesday, the season is known as Carnival and begins on King's Day, January 6, and extends until midnight before Ash Wednesday. Club, or Krewe, balls start soon after, though most are extremely private, with their Kings and Queens coming from wealthy old families and their courts consisting of the season's debutantes. Most of the high society Krewes do not stage parades. As Fat Tuesday gets nearer, the parades start in earnest. Usually there is one major parade each day ; many days have several large parades. The largest and most elaborate parades take place the last five days of the Mardi Gras season. In the final week, many events occur throughout New Orleans and surrounding communities, including parades and balls.
The Krewe of Endymion is a New Orleans Mardi Gras super krewe and social organization.
Lundi Gras is a relatively recently popularized name for a series of Shrove Monday events taking place during the Mardi Gras. It includes the tradition of Rex, king of the New Orleans carnival, and Zulu King arriving by boat. This began in 1874, but the term Lundi Gras was not widely applied until 1987 when the arrival was brought back as part of a series of river-related events under the name of "Lundi Gras". Lundi Gras was the creation of journalist Errol Laborde. The event was staged with the cooperation of Riverwalk Marketplace and its then marketing director Carol Thistle Lentz. The events are detailed in Laborde's book, Krewe: The Early New Orleans Carnival from Comus to Zulu.
The Striker's Independent Society (S.I.S.) is the oldest continuously active mystic society in Mobile, founded in 1843, Alabama. Mobile's Mardi Gras history spans over 300 years, as customs changed with the ruling nations: Mobile was the capital of French Louisiana in 1702, then British in 1763, then Spanish in 1780, entered the Republic of Alabama, was declared American in 1812, a U.S. state in 1819, then Confederate in 1860, then became American again in 1865 and participated in Carnival during New Year's Eve and New Year's Day celebrations. It is the oldest remaining mystic society in America but no longer hosts an annual parade.
Mardi Gras is the annual Carnival celebration in Mobile, Alabama. It is the oldest official Carnival celebration in the United States, started by Frenchman Nicholas Langlois in 1703 when Mobile was the capital of Louisiana. Although today New Orleans and South Louisiana celebrations are much more widely known for all the current traditions such as masked balls, parades, floats and throws were first created there. From Mobile being the first capital of French Louisiana (1702), the festival began as a French Catholic tradition. Mardi Gras has now evolved into a mainstream multi-week celebration across the spectrum of cultures, becoming school holidays for the final Monday and Tuesday, regardless of religious affiliation.
Mardi Gras throws are strings of beads, doubloons, cups, or other trinkets passed out or thrown from the floats for Mardi Gras celebrations, particularly in New Orleans, the Mobile, Alabama, and parades throughout the Gulf Coast of the United States, to spectators lining the streets. The "gaudy plastic jewelry, toys, and other mementos [are] tossed to the crowds from parading floats". The 'throws', consist of necklaces of plastic beads, coins called doubloons, which are stamped with krewes' logos, parade themes and the year, plus an array of plastic cups and toys such as Frisbees, figurines and LED trinkets. The plastic cups that are used as throws are sometimes referred to as New Orleans dinnerware.
A mystic society is a Mardi Gras social organization in Mobile, Alabama, that presents parades and/or balls for the enjoyment of its members, guests, and the public. The New Orleans Krewe is patterned after Mobile's Mystics. The societies have been based in class, economic and racial groups. Mobile's parading mystic societies build colorful Carnival floats and create costumes around each year's themes.
Mardi Gras in the United States is celebrated in a number of cities and regions in the country. Most of these places trace their Mardi Gras celebrations to French, Spanish, and other Catholic colonial influences on the settlements over their history.
The Krewe of Proteus is a New Orleans Carnival Krewe founded in 1882, the oldest continuously parading Old Line Krewe.
Dorothy Mae DeLavallade Taylor, was an educator and politician in New Orleans, the first African-American woman to be elected to and serve in the Louisiana House of Representatives. From 1971 to 1980, she represented District 20, since renumbered, in her native New Orleans. She had started her career as a teacher in the Head Start Program, designed to benefit children in their early years.
The Knights of Momus ("KoM") was founded in 1872 and was the second-oldest parading Old Line Krewe in New Orleans Carnival after the Mistick Krewe of Comus and is the third oldest krewe to continuously present a tableau ball, after the Twelfth Night Revelers in 1870.
Mardi Gras Doubloons are Mardi Gras throws shaped like coins that commemorate various Mardi Gras Krewes. They are typically made of aluminum and are thrown from floats in carnival parades. The first doubloons used as throws from parades of Mardi Gras Krewes date to 1960, and these early doubloons are collectible.
The Pickwick Club is a private gentlemen's club in New Orleans, Louisiana. Founded in 1857, The Pickwick Club and the Mistick Krewe were originally one group comprising two organizations. After The Boston Club, The Pickwick Club is the second oldest remaining in the city.
Knights of Babylon is a New Orleans Mardi Gras krewe that was founded in 1939.
Henri Schindler is a New Orleans Mardi Gras historian and float designer.
The Twelfth Night Revelers, founded in 1870, is a New Orleans, Louisiana, Carnival Krewe. It is the second oldest continuous organization of New Orleans Carnival festivities.
↑ Gill, James (January 1, 1997). Lords of Misrule: Mardi Gras and the Politics of Race in New Orleans. University Press of Mississippi. p.255. ISBN978-0878059164.
↑ Louisiana Debating and Literary Association et. al. v New Orleans,42F.3d1483.
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