Mobile's First Mardi Gras Parade

On Shrove Tuesday, February 25, 1868, shortly after 8 p.m., the Order of Myths gathered at this intersection and began its first parade. The procession traveled west on Government, north on Warren, east on Dauphin, north on Joachim, west on State, south on Claiborne, east on St. Louis, and south on St. Joseph to St. Michael and Temperance Hall, where the OOM ball was held. The parade included four open wagons, each depicting a scene from Lalla Rookh, the Thomas Moore romance set in Persia: Lalla Rookh and her maids; the veiled prophet Mokanna and his followers; Hafed and a band of fire worshippers; and the caliph Al Hassan and his suite. On horseback, between each wagon, rode groups of OOM members dressed as Persian warriors.

Mobile, Alabama · United States