The Birthplace of American Mardi Gras
Mobile's Mardi Gras tradition dates back to 1703, when French settlers held the first organized celebration in what would become the United States. New Orleans wasn't founded until 1718, fifteen years later. The first parade rolled through Mobile in 1711, and by 1831, the city saw its first formally organized mystic society when Michael Krafft and a group of young men calling themselves the Cowbellion de Rakin Society marched through downtown on New Year's Eve, raking cowbells and pushing a decorated cart.
That Cowbellion tradition directly seeded New Orleans' famous krewe system. In 1857, six former Mobile residents living in New Orleans founded the Mistick Krewe of Comus, borrowing heavily from what they'd seen back home. So when New Orleanians toast their krewes, they're raising a glass to a Mobile invention.
Joe Cain Day
One of Mobile's most beloved traditions exists because of one man's defiant sense of humor. In 1866, just after the Civil War, the city was under Union occupation and Mardi Gras had been suspended. Joe Cain refused to let it die. He dressed as a fictional Chickasaw chief named "Slacabamorinico," loaded up a decorated coal wagon, and paraded through the streets, right past the occupying troops. The celebration was back. Today, Joe Cain Day falls on the Sunday before Fat Tuesday, and Mobilians still honor him with a procession to his grave in Church Street Cemetery, where "Joe Cain's Merry Widows" weep dramatically in black veils.
The Order of Myths
Founded in 1867, the Order of Myths is Mobile's oldest mystic society still parading today. Their emblem, a figure of Folly chasing Death around a broken column, has become one of the enduring symbols of Mobile's Carnival. The Order of Myths parade closes out Mardi Gras night, a tradition it has held for over 150 years.
Moon Pies
If you've ever wondered why Moon Pies are synonymous with Mardi Gras, thank Mobile. In 1974, the Krewe of the Moon Pie began tossing the chocolate-marshmallow treats as an alternative to the usual beads and trinkets. It caught on. Today, over a million Moon Pies are thrown during Mobile's Carnival season, and the city rings in Fat Tuesday by lowering a giant electric Moon Pie at midnight, Mobile's answer to Times Square's ball drop.