Let the Good Times Roll

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Invitation to 1899 Comus Ball designed by Jennie Wilde. From Schindler, Henri. Mardi Gras: New Orleans. New York: Flammarion, 1997, 76–77.

«If there is ever a day to eat, drink, and be merry, today, February 9, is it. Fat Tuesday—also known as Mardi Gras Day or Shrove Tuesday—marks the end of the festive Carnival season. For those lucky enough to be in New Orleans, Venice, Rio de Janiero, and numerous other cities across the globe with rich Mardi Gras traditions, the day will be filled with elaborate parades, masquerade balls, and probably more than a little debauchery. New York City is unfortunately not one of those cities, but a perusal through Watson Library's catalog and Digital Collections revealed a treasure trove of books highlighting the history of Carnival and Mardi Gras Day celebrations across the globe, allowing a little vicarious celebration for those of us who can't be there in person.»

Carnival in some form or another can be traced back to ancient Greek and Roman times, when it was a feast to celebrate the upcoming spring. In the early Middle Ages it became tied into the Christian tradition of Lent, a forty-day period of penance and fasting leading up to Easter Sunday. Today, most Carnival celebrations (the exact opposite of Lenten celebrations) begin on the Twelfth Night of Christmas (usually January 6), and continue through the Tuesday before the official start of Lent, Ash Wednesday.

But enough with the facts—let's focus on the pictures! The illustration of Carnival festivities above is the earliest one I could identify in Watson Library's collection. It dates from 1539 (we actually own the 1908 facsimile) and comes from a famous German manuscript titled Das Nürnbergische Schönbartbuch. Unfortunately my German Gothic script-reading skills aren't quite up to snuff, so I'm not exactly sure what is going on in this image (why does everyone have a green ball?), but they seem to be having a pretty good time.

The two images above come from the Costume Institute Library's extensive collection of fashion plates and sketches spanning the seventeenth to twentieth century. Within that collection are at least 150 beautiful sketches depicting Mardi Gras costumes. While these sketches are not precisely dated and we don't know which Mardi Gras celebrations they were for, there's no doubt these costumes would be an impressive sight to see in person.

Left: "Three Pigs." Right: "The Zulu Parade." From Ralph Wickiser, Caroline Durieux, and John McCrady. Mardi Gras Day. New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1948, pp. 15, 43.

While perusing through so many books on Carnival celebrations, I realized I have a slight aversion to creepy costumes—not unlike my aversion to clowns—and Carnival celebrations throughout the world are filled with them. Above are two illustrations from a charming little book called Mardi Gras Day, published in 1948 and co-authored and illustrated by Ralph Wickiser, Caroline Durieux, and John McCrady. The book has the feel of a children's book, but I'm quite sure it would have given me scary dreams as a child.

The two images above, as well as the first and last images in this post, come from a thoroughly engaging and lavishly illustrated book by Henri Schindler titled Mardi Gras: New Orleans. The book traces the history of Mardi Gras celebrations in that city, from their origins in the early part of the eighteenth century through the present. According to Schindler, a Carnival designer and historian, the image on the upper right is actually the earliest surviving photograph of a night parade, dating to 1898. Schindler's book has given me a new-found appreciation of New Orleans's Mardi Gras traditions. I think I am not alone when the first things that come to mind when imagining Mardi Gras in New Orleans are cheap beads, scantily clad young ladies, and many an inebriated individual on Bourbon Street. But Schindler's descriptions of the elaborate mythology of parades and balls, the long and storied history of the "krewes" who organize the parades, and intensive amount of work that goes into planning the events that span the Carnival season have convinced me that I need to witness them in person someday.

The image above, of a Carnival celebration in the Hidalgo province of Mexico, and the two below, of parade-goers in Jacmel, Haiti, and Notting Hill, London, illustrate how widely celebrated Mardi Gras is, each city with its own unique traditions. There are even Carnival celebrations in places one might not expect, such as Zimbabwe, India, and Indonesia.

Wherever you are today—whether you're in costume or just enjoying the Mardi Gras costumes depicted here—raise your glass and, as they say in New Orleans, laissez les bons temps rouler (let the good times roll)!