Mardi Gras New Orleans

by Henri Schindler

From Twelfth Night (6 January) to Mardi Gras, New Orleans lives for her Carnival - a brilliant season of balls, revelry, costuming, and parades. Carnival artist and historian Henri Schindler offers a stunning panorama of Mardi Gras' evolution and its exuberant diversity - the early Creole cavalcades; the torchlit processions of the Mistick Krewe of Comus; the rise of Rex, King of the Carnival; fabulous tableaux balls, Carnival royalty; Storyville and the Baby Dolls; Les Mysterieuses, the first female society; and African-American creations - the Zulu Social Aid and Pleasure Club, and Mardi Gras Indians.

192 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 1997

Reviews

[Redsteve · Rating 3 out of 5]

Henri Schindler has been a respected Mardi Gras historian and float designer for decades, and this is a well-researched and beautifully illustrated book on New Orleans Carnival history. That being said, be warned that his major focus is on the art (float and costume design, court jewelry, ball invitations - In fact, if you are interested in more details in these areas, he has published a series of books, MARDI GRAS TREASURES, each dealing with one aspect of the art of Mardi Gras from 1870-1930) and that is primarily what you get here. Also, I've always gotten the impression that he feels that Mardi Gras has gone downhill since the burning of the French Opera House in 1920. As a result, the majority of this book is devoted to the above period, and, while he doesn't shy away from social and historical issues, they are obviously not this book's primary focus, and, although published in 1997, it doesn't deal with the history of Mardi Gras past the mid-20th Century. 3.5 stars.