The St. Louis Veiled Prophet Celebration: Power on Parade, 1877-1995

by Thomas M. Spencer

The Veiled Prophet organization has been a vital institution in St. Louis for more than a century. Founded in March 1878 by a group of prominent St. Louis businessmen, the organization was fashioned after the New Orleans Carnival society the Mystick Krewe of Comus. In The St. Louis Veiled Prophet Celebration, Thomas Spencer explores the social and cultural functions of the organization's annual celebration—the Veiled Prophet parade and ball—and traces the shifts that occurred over the years in its cultural meaning and importance. Although scholars have researched the more pluralistic parades of the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, very little has been done to examine the elite-dominated parades of the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries. This study shows how pluralistic parades ceased to exist in St. Louis and why the upper echelon felt it was so important to end them. Spencer shows that the celebration originated as the business elite's response to the St. Louis general strike of 1877. Symbolically gaining control of the streets, the elites presented St. Louis history and American history by tracing the triumphs of great men—men who happened to be the Veiled Prophet members' ancestors. The parade, therefore, was intended to awe the masses toward passivity with its symbolic show of power. The members believed that they were helping to boost St. Louis economically and culturally by enticing visitors from the surrounding communities. They also felt that the parades provided the spectators with advice on morals and social issues and distracted them from less desirable behavior like drinking and carousing. From 1900 to 1965 the celebration continued to include educational and historical elements; thereafter, it began to resemble the commercialized leisure that was increasingly becoming a part of everyday life. The biggest change occurred in the period from 1965 to 1980, when the protests of civil rights groups led many St. Louisans to view the parade and ball as wasteful conspicuous consumption that was often subsidized with taxpayers' money. With membership dropping and the news media giving the organization little notice, it soon began to wither. In response, the leaders of the Veiled Prophet organization decided to have a "VP Fair" over the Fourth of July weekend. The 1990s brought even more changes, and the members began to view the celebration as a way to unite the St. Louis community, with all of its diversity, rather than as a chance to boost the city or teach cultural values. The St. Louis Veiled Prophet Celebration is a valuable addition not only to the cultural history of Missouri and St. Louis but also to recent scholarship on urban culture, city politics, and the history of public celebrations in America.

Genres: Nonfiction, History

224 pages, Hardcover

First published February 1, 2000

Reviews

[K. Blaha · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Veiled Prophet celebration was St. Louis’ response to New Orleans’ Mardi Gras. Mardi Gras inverts the social order; the fool is king for a day, and the rich man mingles with the poor man. The Veiled Prophet celebration was created to reinforce the social order, to show the lower classes the differences between them and the leading luminaries. Veiled Prophet details the evolution of this celebration; it began in 1878 in response to a massive labor strike in 1877, and continues to this day.

THE GOOD

-I enjoyed learning about the origins of the society, and some of the national context for the creation of the society.
-The description of how the celebration evolved with time was good, with the timing changing and different parts growing or waning in prominence.
-The discussion of media coverage over time was interesting.
-I especially enjoyed reading about the people involved, though there was less of this than I would have liked.
-The hilarious and sad scandal of The 1927 Veiled Prophet queen- she was already married at the time she became queen, and, even worse, without her father’s permission! In an interview in 1977, she mused that the society still hadn’t gotten over it.

THE BAD

-The book is dry and doesn't have much narrative--it's more academic than recreational.
-There isn't much surrounding St. Louis history.
-The book stays narrowly focused on the Veiled Prophet society, for good or ill.

OVERALL

This book is a 5/5 for content about the society and quality of sources; it would be excellent for the academic reader. For someone interested in St. Louis history, it is well worthwhile. This book doesn’t offer a lot of interpretation for the reader. Not everybody wants that, but I was hoping for it. I give it a 4/5 because, for the type of person who is looking to learn about the Veiled Prophet celebration, it is an informative and worthy source.

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[David Shelton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting book, especially if you are a St. Louisan. It is basically a history of the city through the lens of the veiled prophet celebration. Even though I grew up in the St. Louis I never knew about the Veiled Prophet organization that to this day exists and puts on the Fair St. Louis on the 4th of July each year. The writer starts from the beginning and shows how the Veiled Prophet Parade and Ball were originally created as a demonstration of power by the upper class after the breaking of the Railroad strike in 1877. It changed a lot over the years, and is less explicitly elitist today, but still is basically a party for the rich and powerful people in St. Louis. The writing is average, but it is a fairly easy read. For people interested in the topic it is worth checking out.

[Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit repetitive, but so fascinating.

[Beth Medvedev · Rating 3 out of 5]

Super interesting but probably could have used more editing.

[Erin Whitteck · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reads like a master's thesis but lots of great information about the history of St. Louis and the VP ball and parade.