Most people know I have a deep love affair with the city of New Orleans. And while I must currently enjoy my king cake from afar, I wanted to share these fantastic images from the Historic New Orleans Collection and nola.com :
“This gown, scepter, and crown were all worn by the 1955 Queen of the Mystic Club, Mrs. Richard Freeman, and were donated to THNOC by Tina Freeman. The theme that year was “After the Battle of New Orleans.” Founded in 1923, the Mystic Club is composed of commercial and professional leaders. THNOC founder Leila Williams reigned as queen of Mystic in 1936.”
“Many of the traditions, sights, and sounds of New Orleans’s modern Mardi Gras celebrations can be traced back to the Rex Parade. Founded in 1872, Rex’s traditional colors of purple, green, and gold have become the colors of Carnival. “If Ever I Cease to Love,” played for Rex since the very first Rex parade, has become Mardi Gras’s most enduring anthem. And it was Rex that first introduced the doubloon. This crown was worn by John Poitevent, Rex 1893. The Rex Parade rolls Mardi Gras day, Tuesday, February 9, at 10:00 a.m.”
“The 1909 Queen of Comus Edna May Hart wore elaborate pansy-themed jewelry, including this stomacher, a bejeweled belt-like accessory.”
The Comus cup from 1928 (apparently all of the Comus Jewelry was made in Paris up until 1920’s).
Josephine Maginnis, Queen of Comus, 1893:
