BACK STORY

Revelry in Bloom

Photo courtesy William E. Wilson Photographic Collection, Minnie Mitchell Archives, Mobile Historic Preservation Society

“In Mobile, Mardi Gras comes with the seasons, a natural phenomenon, an event to be anticipated and enjoyed, but not really to be considered anything very unusual. One simply grows up knowing that Mardi Gras will come with the spring.”

– Caldwell Delaney, as quoted in "Mardi Gras in Mobile," by L. Craig Roberts LONG BEFORE THE FLORAL PARADE became synonymous with children's floats, Mobile boasted a different parade of flowers, one that included automobiles bedecked in blooms. Pictured here is one such car from the inaugural parade, 1905. That year, King Felix, Orville Cawthon, owner and proprietor of one of Mobile's most luxurious hotels, and Queen Mary Morris Clark reigned over Carnival. Over the next 12 years, revelry quickly blossomed, and 62 mystic societies were formed, most of which didn't last long — Spirits of Darkness and Carnival Flirts, being two such examples. Also short-lived was the original floral parade, which lasted until 1917. But in 1928, the Mobile Carnival Association started the Children's Flower Parade, mostly as an attempt to keep people in town the weekend before Fat Tuesday. Later changed to "Floral Parade," it is one of the longest, most colorful — and youthful —parades of the season.

AFTERNOON EVENTS ON MARDI GRAS, 1905

excerpt from the Montgomery

"At 1:00 this evening, the Knights of Revelry entertained the thousands gathered in the Imperial City, with a Felix, on his gorgeous throne German Relief Hall where they people were guests during the and other fortunate persons so

95

Percentage of Mardi Gras parades that follow Route A, a 2.5-mile path through Downtown

6

Number of venues in which Mardi Gras balls were held in the early 1900s: Admiral Semmes Hotel, Athelstan Club,

1902

Year masks were prohibited from public use — at the bandits were known to wear masks.

$3

Amount of money the members paid in monthly dues — the