Who Is That Masked Reveller???

WHY ARE MASK WORN?

My Personal Temporarily Retired Hand Painted Venezia Mask  

I Hand-Picked And Ordered This One Of A Kind Beauty

 By Krewe Laws, Members Of Krewes Whom Are In Costume and Are Float Riders Must Always Have A Mask On While In Public And Riding Their Floats. And Believe Me I Know This For A Fact!!!   If You Are Caught In Costume Without A Mask In Public Outside Of Your Ball - Before Or After The Float Parade Or Ball.  You Have Broken A Carnal Sin Which Entitles You To A Big Fat Fine.  

Yes, You Heard Me Right - A Fine!!!

These Long Held Traditions Of Being A Member Of An Elite Secret Society Are Taken Seriously.

I Know These Things Because I Was A Member Of A Very Established Female Krewe For A Few Years.  Then After Starting Nursing School I Decided It Was Time To Take A Break Due To The Financial And Time Commitment.  However, I Will Say - It Is Both A Privilege And A Wonderful Experience To Be A Part Of Such A Special Organization.

Mask Range In Price From A Couple Of Dollars To Several Hundred Dollars.  

A Few Near & Dear To My Heart Pictures Of My Experience As A Member Of A Mystical Mardi Gras Organization.

My Float Was The Cosmic Cowgirls & This Whole Group Rode On 1 of the 13 Floats That Rolled The Streets Of Fairhope.
I Am On The Second Row - Last One On The Far Left

Me At Call-Outs

Me On My Float At The Parade - Throwing My Throws

Me And Some Great Gals At The Ball & After The Parade

The History Of Mardi Gras Mask

 One of the most important aspects of the Mardi Gras mask might be the mask itself. The mask doesn't just hide your identity, but presents a new one. Hence the many expensive and intricate artisan-crafted masks you can find in all the places where the holiday is taken seriously, from Mobile to Venice. A mask can take any form – scary, happy, beautiful, mysterious – and that's something to consider next time you throw on a plastic party mask in a big Mardi Gras city, or balk at the seemingly outrageous prices for a "just a mask": during the festivities, at least, your Mardi Gras mask is a whole new you.

Mardi Gras masks are in essence Carnival masks, which means their history lies in the Venetian and Frenchmasquerade balls that were in vogue in the royal courts of Europe from the 15th century onward. In America, where Mardi Gras is probably best known (under the name "Mardi Gras," that is, and not "Carnival"), masks have a complicated, but rich history. 

The French brought both the masquerade and Mardi Gras with them to North America, and initially, as in Europe, masking on Mardi Gras (and during the Carnival season) was the province of the elite. The public identities of "mystical society" and "krewe" members – the people who held Mardi Gras balls and organized the parades – were a secret, and hence the Mardi Gras masks (note: this is not uniformly true today). For the disenfranchised, both in America and in the Caribbean, masking could also give a person the freedom to parody authority without fear of retribution.

Masking hasn't always been legal. Like Mardi Gras itself, but those in Mobile and New Orleans had been suspended from time to time, usually during wartime, but during Louisiana's period of Spanish rule, both masking and dance were prohibited (ostensibly because of violence), and not returned until well after the territory was returned to France and sold to the United States. Even today, in places like Mobile, Alabama, non-mystical society members are only allowed to mask from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Mardi Gras day, not because of Carnival-associated violence, but bad precedent for masked men and women set by the Ku Klux Klan in the 1950s. Once the Mardi Gras mask returned in 1827, however, it marked the beginning of the golden age and modern era of Mardi Gras.

So Buy You A Mask, Put It On, And Feel That Mystical Feeling Of Mystery!!!

Cindy Lou...