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Page 7
IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY
In 1909, a unique
krewe began by doing
what no others had done; satirizing Rex himself. The Zulu Social
Aid and Pleasure Club began as a group of benevolent aid societies and
various marching clubs and groups. Benevolent aid societies were
formed in the New Orleans
Black community as a kind of insurance for the community, generally
covering emergency needs and funeral costs. The city itself is
divided
into separate 'wards', with each ward having its own Carnival
groups.
One of these groups was called The Tramps, who had been marching on
Mardi Gras since 1901. In 1909, members of The
Tramps attended the Temple Theatre in the Knights of Pythias building
in the 200 block of Loyola Ave. There, they saw a skit by the
vaudeville act The Smart Set
entitled
"There Never Was and Never Will Be a King Like Me," about the Zulu
Tribe. After the performance, The Tramps walked to a saloon at
the corner of N. Rampart & Perdido, picking up friends and members
of the benevolent aid societies. They met in a backroom of that
saloon and emerged as the Zulu Social Aid and
Pleasure
Society. Their first march as The Zulu Social Aid and Pleasure
Club proclaimed William Story as the first Zulu King. Whites and blacks
have marched together in Zulu since the early days, which was illegal
during segregation. To allow everyone to ride in anonymity every
member
rode adorned in 'blackface' makeup, a tradition that continues to this
day.
King Zulu the First wore a lard can crown and carried a banana stalk
sceptre,
with the members attired in rags and tatters. Mocking
Rex's arrival on the river, King Zulu arrived on an oyster
lugger at the terminus of a bayou in the area now occupied by the
Greyhound Bus Station. The famed
coconuts first appeared in 1910 in their natural hairy state. It
was another few years until a sign painter named Lloyd Lucas would
scrape
and paint the coconuts, to create the highly-collectable handcrafted
coconuts
seen today.
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During the bloody years of the first
World War, Mardi Gras was cancelled, which began a long struggle for
the
celebrations. Certain traditions were lost during this time, the
most notable of which was the Riverboat arrival of Rex on the Monday
before Mardi Gras, now commonly called Lundi Gras.
Prohibition
put a large strain on a holiday designed for drinking and the crowds
diminished.
No sooner had Prohibition been repealed than the Great Depression sent
the country into a permanent money slump and Carnival fell victim
again.
But by 1934, the festivities began to grow once more as the Krewe of
Alla brought Mardi Gras parades to the Westbank of New Orleans.
Automobiles
became plentiful, and the modern truck floats began to appear,
beginning
with the Elks Krewe of Orleanians in 1935. The Krewe of Hermes
started
parading in 1937, followed in 1939 by the Krewe of Bablylonians.
World War II shut Mardi Gras down again in 1941, remaining dormant
until
1946 where it once again exploded and flourished.
THE FIFTIES AND THE ROYAL SEAL OF APPROVAL
From
1946 on, Mardi Gras grew at an exponential pace, entering a new plateau
that would continue until the early 1960's. New krewes were being
formed across the greater metropolitan areas, some for parading, others
for social, civic, or benevolent purposes. In 1956, legitimate
royalty again visited New
Orleans in the form of the Duke and Dutchess of Windsor. The
royals
created an international sensation when they bowed to Rex and Comus at
the ball that year, marking the first time in the modern era (or
perhaps
of any era) when members of the Royal family paid homage to the
conjured
royalty of Carnival. Truly an historic event. The Korean
War
put out the flambeau in 1951, but members of several krewes banded
together
to form the one-Gras-only Krewe of Patria.
Also during the 1950's, the old-style
mule-drawn floats gave way to tractor-pulled ones, part of the
nationwide push for progress and mechanization. The Krewe of
Zeus
began parading in 1956, bringing the celebrations to the rural streets
of Metairie.
Next up,
the Sixties bring new faces, old problems, and a long lethargic period
when Mardi Gras lost its shine.
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