How do you describe Mardi Gras? If your answer is based on what you see on television, you may not know what to think! If you have experienced Carnival as a tourist in New Orleans, spending much of your visit in the French Quarter, you have a different impression. If you have taken part in the festivities with our New Orleans Watters family as Adair and I did in 1996, you are forever changed. And if you grew up as a Watters in New Orleans, your experiences were up close and personal.
Right now in many cities along the Gulf Coast, parades are taking place. They began on Twelfth Night or Kings' Day (January 6), and will continue for another week - multiple day and evening parades in different neighborhoods. It all culminates on Mardi Gras Day, this year on Tuesday, March 4. At the stroke of midnight, Mardi Gras is over and Lent begins.
Here's a bit of general information about Mardi Gras from MardiGras.com:
- Carnival celebrations fall into two categories: public and private. The private celebrations are balls, held by clubs called krewes. Some krewes let anyone join, while others are exclusive.
- The public celebrations take the form of parades, sponsored by the same krewes that hold the balls for members only. Not every krewe has a parade, although every krewe will throw a party for its members.
- Most krewes are named for figures in Greek mythology, like Bacchus for the god of wine or Orpheus for the god of music.
- The parade season officially begins on the second Friday before Mardi Gras. At the beginning of the season, parades are held on weekends only, then become more frequent until the week prior to Mardi Gras, when there's at least a parade a day. There are nine parades on Mardi Gras, most notably Rex.
- Rex is considered the king of Mardi Gras.
- Every parade has a theme, usually borrowed from mythology, history or Hollywood. Most parades have mock royalty, kings and queens and dukes and duchesses, either drawn from the ranks of the krewe's members or celebrities. All parade riders throw trinkets - beads, doubloons, small toys, candy - from the floats to the crowds.
- The colors of Carnival are purple, green and gold, chosen in 1872 by that year's Rex. The 1892 Rex parade gave the official colors meaning: purple for justice, green for faith and gold for power.
- The one ubiquitous food of the Carnival season is the king cake. Sweet roll-like dough is shaped into a big circle, cooked and brushed with purple, green and gold sugar or icing. Then a plastic baby, representing the Christ child, is tucked inside. Whoever gets the piece of cake containing the baby must, by tradition, provide the next king cake.
And now, family pictures!
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| Alfred Adair Watters as king of the Mystic Ball, date unknown |
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Warren Kearny Watters as king of Atlanteans
and Alfred Adair Watters, Jr., 1992 |
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| Alfred Adair Watters, Jr., page to Rex, 1937 |
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The debutante court of the 1940 Golden Anniversary ball of Atlanteans. Warren Kearny was the king - queen Gifford Glenny was the grand-daughter of the first queen.
Atlanteans was formed in 1890 and Warren Kearny was a Charter Member. He was king of the first Ball, held on February 3, 1891. In 1940, he reigned again as king for the 50th Anniversary ball. |
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Bobby Watters & Warren Kearny
St. Charles Avenue, c. 1926 |
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Warren & Bobby Watters with friends waiting
for Rex parade on St. Charles Avenue |
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Alfred Adair Watters III, Rex parade, 1996
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Mary Neilson Watters, queen of Atlanteans, 1976
MaryNel was also a maid in Rex, Tina & Cecile maids
in Comus, and MaryNel, Tina & Cecile Maids in Momus. |
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| Thomas Sloo, 1894 |
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| Alfred Adair Watters, Jr., 1937 |
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| Nell Kearny, 1923 |
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| Thomas Sloo, 1884 |
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| Thomas Sloo, Jr., 1933 |
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| Mary Neilson Watters, 1976 |
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| Alexander Adair Tebo, 2008 |
