"A Place of Romance"
Mardi Gras, 1900
Mardi Gras, 1900
From a postcard description, ca. 1900:

"Ever since its founding in 1718, New Orleans has been a place of romance,
contrasting dramatically with other American cities.  From a village of a hundred
hovels, in a malarious thicket of willows and palmettos, infested by alligators, it has
expanded through the years to a great modern city of over 450,000 people.  But it
still retains the strange mixture of customs and characteristics which have always
given it individuality.

"The Mississippi River and its alluvial valley, richer than that of the Nile, pour into
the lap of New Orleans the wealth of the south and the west, until the wharves and
the contiguous streets are filled to overflowing with raw staples:  sugar, molasses,
rice, tobacco, corn, wheat, oats and one-third of the country's supply of cotton.

"Here, on Canal Street, one of the great modern thoroughfares of the city, we are
watching the elaborate floats of the parade of Mardi Gras.  This is, by far, the most
splendid of the kind held anywhere in the United States and thousands of visitors
flock into the city every year to enjoy it.  Mardi Gras has been celebrated with
increasing pomp by the French and Creole population of New Orleans since 1827
and the various features of the carnival are elaborated by different societies, such
as the Mystic Krewe of Comus, the Knights of Momus and others."


~   ~   ~

The link to this page is:
http://old-new-orleans.com/Mardi_Gras_1900.html

Back to   Mardi Gras in Old New Orleans

Back to   Old New Orleans

Whispers - Home