12 Bizarre and Fascinating Facts about Mardi Gras

Photo by Ray Devlin

Early every year, an explosion of sounds and sights and all-around good cheer occurs. This wildly colorful celebration is known as Mardi Gras, one of the biggest parties in the world. With flamboyant costumes, imaginative floats, festive music and a host of fun traditions, Mardi Gras is a favorite among grand events.

Like all such celebrations, Mardi Gras has a bit of history behind it. Along the course of its existence, quite a few interesting things have popped up in its story. Here are some of the more fascinating facts about Mardi Gras:

1. A King’s Ransom in Cakes — King cakes are a well-loved (and delicious!) Mardi Gras tradition. In fact, they’re so well-loved that roughly 750,000 of the green, purple, and gold pastries are sold every year. What’s even more amazing is that those figures come from New Orleans alone! Because a ton of people from other states want a piece of the festivities, nationwide deliveries for king cakes account for another 50,000 in sales. That’s a lot of sweet tooths!

2. Ho ho ho! Merry… Mardi Gras? — What’s a Mardi Gras parade without the beads and trinkets? Every year, revelers delight in catching these little gifts, known popularly as “throws”. You’d be surprised to learn that the first reported throw is attributed to a very familiar gift-giver — Santa Claus! According to legend, someone dressed as good old St. Nick came out from the Twelfth Night Revelers’ 24th float and handed out present to the parade-goers. The gimmick was received very well, and soon became credited as the root of a Mardi Gras tradition.

3. Power Tourism — Mardi Gras is a gigantic tourist event for New Orleans, with more than half a million people flocking to the area to join in on the festivities. This creates a major boom for local businesses that entertain the tourists. The event is so profitable, revenues for New Orleans spike up to a whopping $840 million on average, every year! No wonder they take it so seriously!

4. Who’s Your Daddy? — Despite Mardi Gras being one of the most popular celebrations in the country, nobody really knows who brought it to America. While it’s generally agreed to have been due to French influences in Louisiana, no one can peg the individuals responsible for the first American celebration. Some argue that Sieur d’Iberville introduced it when he landed in Louisiana in 1699. Others say that French soldiers in Mobile, Alabama were the first to bring the festivities to America four years after d’Iberville’s landing. Others still believe that the early French settlers simply brought Mardi Gras with them when they made their homes in Louisiana. We may never really know who the father of Mardi Gras in the USA is, but we definitely do enjoy the tradition.

5. Don’t Have a Cow — We’re all pretty familiar with the fact that the name “Mardi Gras” is French for “Fat Tuesday”. What most people don’t know, though is that it wasn’t always called Mardi Gras. One of the earliest names of the event was Boeuf Gras, which means “Fat Beef”. The reason behind this was that the festival is considered the last great feast before people fasted for Lent. One of the customs for this huge party was parading an exceptionally-fat ox through the streets for all the feasters to drool over. This rather fat piece of beef soon became the festival’s namesake. The name change occurred when the Catholic church decided to move celebrations to the day before Ash Wednesday, creating the “Fat Tuesday” as we know it.

6. Different Country, Different Cake — We all enjoy a little bit of King cake every Mardi Gras. The sweet, doughy confections tickle our taste buds, and the hidden trinket inside is always a pleasant surprise. Around the world, though, people celebrate Mardi Gras a little differently, and with different food. In England, for example, the day is known as Pancake Day, named after the food of choice before people started fasting. In Germany, the celebration is known as Fastnacht, or “Fasting Night”. The traditional Fastnacht pastry is made from fried potato dough, and is served with corn syrup.

7. The Bands are Banned — Shocking as it may seem, but some people actually dislike Mardi Gras. After the French occupation of New Orleans gave way to Spanish rule, the once-common Mardi Gras celebrations were banned. The crowds, music, and overall rowdiness must have been deemed unsavory by the Spanish leaders, and so the festivals were nixed. Slowly but surely, however, Mardi Gras made its comeback. In 1823, the balls were swinging once again, and street masking was made legal once more four years later.

8. Two Parties in a Pod — Ever wonder why Mardi Gras and Brazil’s world-famous Carnival seem so alike? Mardi Gras’ roots are one and the same with Carnival, which takes place immediately after the Twelfth Night on January 6. Between that day and Lent, people celebrate and feast in anticipation of the fasting and self-deprivation of the next season. Of course, these aren’t the only two countries to be celebrating in the same spirit. Mardi Gras, Carnival, and other similar celebrations are held all over the world, including Italy, Panama, and Uruguay.

9. For Queen and Cake — In 1870, the Revelers introduced a new tradition to Mardi Gras celebrations: the election of the first Carnival queen. The plan was simple enough — a giant King cake with a golden bean baked inside would be served to a group of young women. The lucky lady would find the bean would then be crowned the queen. However, things didn’t exactly go according to plan. The folks in charge of carrying the cake were pretty drunk, and the cake soon went flying through the air and landing on the ladies. When the mess was cleared, none of the embarrassed women didn’t want to admit to getting the bean, and so the first Carnival queen was actually crowned the next year.

10. Clean Sweep — As with any major festival, you can expect that Mardi Gras creates a pretty huge amount of trash. The party-goers leave a lot of garbage in their wake, leaving the New Orleans Sanitation Department with the unenviable job of cleaning things up the morning after. Face with more than 2000 tons of waste from the final 12 days of parades in the late 80s, the department decided to institute recycling programs. The programs were a success, reducing the amount of garbage being tossed into landfills and helping to preserve the environment.

11. The Royal Colors of Mardi Gras — Gold, purple and green are widely accepted as Mardi Gras’ official colors. It’s interesting to know that they were actually picked by the Grand Duke of Russia way back in 1872. Legend has it that Grand Duke Alexis Romanoff came to New Orleans hoping to woo the actress Lydia Thompson. He eventually became a guest of honor at that year’s parade, and was asked by Rex to choose the official colors of Mardi Gras. It’s no wonder, then, that Mardi Gras and the House of Romanoff have the same colors!

12. The First Krewe — It’s funny, and probably only fitting, that the first Mardi Gras Krewe was initially formed through a few drunk men. In Jan. 1, 1830, a group of inebriated party-goers were walking by a store when they had brilliant idea. Grabbing rakes, hoes, and cowbells, they headed to the mayor’s home and created quite a racket. The mayor, displaying a cool head in the middle of the night, suggested that the men organize themselves into a committee and let others join in on their fun. They eventually became the Cowbellion de Rakin Society and held parades every New Year’s Eve.

    Fast forward 27 years later, when six Cowbellions attempt to save Mardi Gras from being cancelled altogether. The Cowbellions proposed that a new club be formed to create a grand parade for the festivities, which would in effect bring order to the chaos that Carnival came to be associated with. Their proposal was accepted, and they soon formed the legendary Comus krewe.

If you love Mardi Gras like we do, then you’ll want to be sure to look the part with our Mardi Gras Costumes. And keep the holiday fun going with great St. Patrick’s Day Costumes and Easter Costumes.

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