Posts Tagged ‘Mardi Gras’

Carnival Time Around the Museum: Tips for Your Trip to the Museum this Mardi Gras

As Carnival season builds up over the next week down here in New Orleans, the fun will be drumming down the streets right near the Museum, and it may affect your visit to the Museum.

During the war years of 1942-1945, official Mardi Gras parades and celebrations in New Orleans were canceled. For March 9th, 1943, the Retailers for Victory Committee, chaired by Leon Godchaux, Jr. , organized a special Carnival Day Bond Drive and celebration in the 800 block of Canal Street. The block was roped off and admission was sold in the form of war bonds. More than 25,000 people were on hand to hear the headlining Higgins Industries’ Band perform along with nationally known singer, Lanny Ross. The event raised $1,192,000 in bonds. Image from the collection of The National WWII Museum.For March 9th, 1943, the Retailers for Victory Committee organized a special Carnival Day Bond Drive and celebration in the 800 block of Canal Street. Image from the collection of The National WWII Museum.

For March 9th, 1943, the Retailers for Victory Committee organized a special Carnival Day Bond Drive and celebration in the 800 block of Canal Street. Image from the collection of The National WWII Museum.

Whether you’re a history buff or a parade-goer, we’ve got some tips for your Carnival Time trip to the Museum.

Plan carefully for when and how you’re making your trip to the Museum.

On the weekend of February 6-7, parades will be rolling day and night near the Museum, as well as parades on the evenings of February 3-5 and 8. You may find it impossible to park or get caught in parade traffic if you’re not careful. Tip: Beat the traffic, and arrive at the Museum before the parades roll.
Be sure to read the signs carefully before you park! Especially if you’re parking on the street. Avoid parking under “Parade Route” signs. You may get towed if there’s a parade set for that day.

Come see us while you’re at the parades!

The King Cake at The American Sector is definitely worth fighting for.

Escape the beads, and learn some history. We’re just a block off Lee Circle, and our restaurant The American Sector will have Mardi Gras food and drink specials, a real bathroom, and some seats waiting for you. Looking for a quick snack? Pop into Jeri Nim’s Soda Shop for a bite!

If it looks like a rainy day out on the parade route, consider staying dry in the Museum.

A restored P-40 Warhawk fighter plane is suspended in our newest exhibit Road to Tokyo.

Our newest exhibits Road to Berlin and Road to Tokyo are pretty spectacular. And according to Architectural Digest, our US Freedom Pavilion: The Boeing Center is just one of 16 spots not to miss in New Orleans.

Have fun on Mardi Gras Day, and remember that we’re closed for it on Tuesday February 9, 2016.

King and Queen in full costume, presumably welcoming crowd. Probably image from Mardi Gras celebration in Italy in February 1945. Scanned to disk in donor file. 13 February 1945. Gift in Memory of Dr. Thomas Edward Weiss, from the collection of the National WWII Museum.

For more information on Mardi Gras Parades Schedules and Routes, click here.

See what Carnival time was like around the world during World War II. Uncover stories from New Orleans and Italy here.

The Mystic Krewe of Snafu, Mardi Gras 1945

Gift in Memory of Dr. Thomas Weiss, 2010.352.098

In 1945, Mardi Gras was on Tuesday, February 13th. It was the last Mardi Gras during which official, wide-scale celebrations were cancelled due to WWII.

Smaller celebrations happened both in New Orleans, and by celebrants scattered across the globe. One such celebration was documented by members of the US Army 24th General Hospital stationed in Italy. Almost all members of this hospital, including were graduates of or medical staff at Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana. The 24th General Hospital embarked in August 1943 for posts overseas, operating first out of North Africa and then, in Florence, Italy, where they celebrated Mardi Gras 1945.

In addition to masquerading, the hospital staff performed a “parody in pantomime” (think Chaplin’s The Great Dictator) celebrating the Third Anniversary Mardi Gras Carnival of the Mystic Krewe of Snafu. The play was co-written by Captain Weiss and the cast were various members of the 24th General Hospital. Characters included Mussolini (“Benito the man who is Finito”), multiple Hitlers, Hirohito (“the Imperial Mosquito”), the Roosevelts, Chiang Kai-shek and wife, Churchill, Stalin and the Court of Snafu. The skit is introduced as:

“The Axis gets axed and exits in two acts or King Snafu

King Snafu and his Merry Krewe

Pull the Big Four out of an Awful Stewe”

Images from the Thomas Weiss collection can be seen online here in our Digital Collections. For more on Wartime Carnival see our flickr set and a previous blog post. “Long Live SNAFU, the King of Merriment!”

Post by Curator Kimberly Guise

Wartime Carnival

The first Mardi Gras Day after the Pearl Harbor attack was on Tuesday, February 17^th, 1942. Official parades and Carnival balls were cancelled due to the war (and would continue to be through 1945), although many of the floats had been already constructed and parties planned. Despite the suspension of official activities, krewes and societies met at residences and clubs to celebrate Fat Tuesday. This scene from Mardi Gras 1942 reflects revelry and good times amidst a nation at war. Members of the African American community in New Orleans celebrated with a unique tradition in which women masqueraded as little girls or baby dolls. Although the exact origin of this phenomenon is disputed, the tradition dates to at least Mid-18^th Century New Orleans. Although the “Baby Doll” tradition fell by the wayside for decades in the postwar years, women have begun in recent years to don the silken dresses and bonnets and once again parade through the streets on Mardi Gras Day.