168 Days Until Mardi Gras

If you have read Ellen Byron's newest book Mardi Gras Murder, you know Mardi Gras means different things to different areas of Louisiana. To give you an idea what Mardi Gras means in New Orleans, Ellen Byron relates her experience at the Mardi Gras balls and MapYourMystery tells you about riding a float during the Morpheus parade  in 2018.

MapYourMystery: Tell us about your experience at a Mardi Gras ball.
Ellen: One of best friends was queen of Proteus and a maid at Rex, so I got to go to the balls.

MapYourMystery: What type of dresses did you wear?
Ellen: Here’s the thing about Mardi Gras balls, at least back in the day when I went to them, a day that will not be named due to aging me. You dress in formal attire – see photo of my roommate and me – whether you get a “call-out card” or not.

MYM: What’s a call-out card? 
Ellen: That’s when a krewe member on the ballroom floor sends you a card inviting you to join him to dance. One friend of mine who was quite a sexy little number, got a call-out card. So yes, there was dancing, but not for me or my other friends. Dressed in our finery, we watched the court’s festivities from the Municipal Auditorium’s balcony.

MYM: What happens at midnight?

Ellen: The thing that’s cool about Rex is that at midnight on Mardi Gras, they open the walls dividing Rex and Comus. The two kings greet each other – I believe the king of Rex goes to Comus because it’s the older Krewe – and the balls combine. I have a vague memory of actually going onto the ballroom floor after that, but I honestly can’t say if that’s true or not. Maybe wishful thinking on my part! But I’m pretty sure it happened. (It’s NOLA – I’d probably knocked back quite a few cocktails by then!)

At each ball, the court is announced and presented one maid and escort at a time, culminating in the appearance of the queen. Remember, since they’re debs, they’re all about twenty-one while the kings are middle-aged NOLA grandees. I have a vague memory of someone telling me that her king was the family gynecologist. You have to shelve the creep factor and just play along with the fun of it.
(Note: Shameless Shilling of Ellen's new book in photo.)


Ellen: What was float riding like?
MYM: Let's put it this way, it is not for the faint of heart. My husband, our daughter and I decided to ride the float after we talked with a friend of ours from the Krewe of Morpheus. We loaded ourselves and our thousands and thousands of beads onto the float around 5:00 pm. Oh did I mention the before party which started at 2:30 pm. The Morpheus parade did not begin until 7:00 pm and we did not get off the float until around midnight. And remember you are standing the entire time or maybe sitting on several bags of beads. And the after party that went on until who knows when

Our Krewe float leader supplied us with food, soft drinks and water on board. Anything else was up to each rider. And yes there was a restroom on board, phew!

Ellen: What are the crowds like?
MYM: The crowds on St. Charles Avenue are right below you as the float drives by and the sound is deafening. Hands reaching up almost to where you are standing for beads. It was crazy. People are standing 10 deep on the sidewalk. I used my old baseball throwing skills to reach some of them. Some people walked along side the float as we inched our way down the street. When the parade paused briefly, there were crowds of people surrounding the float chanting "Throw me something."

Ellen: Did you run out of beads?
MYM: We were so lucky though we ran out of beads pretty much at the end of the parade on Canal St. We never threw bunches of beads out, we just threw one strand at a time. If we had tossed handfuls, we would have run out of beads before we turned on to St. Charles!

Ellen: How did you feel about the experience?
MYM: It was an incredible experience and we might do it again, but not for a couple of years!

For a review of Mardi Gras Murder, click here.

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