« Feature Photo | Main | Feature Photo: Canal Street, 1905 »

February 19, 2007

Feature Photo - Hail Rex!

Hail Rex!

The King of Carnival on Canal Street. This postcard is postmarked 1912, but the original is a Detroit Publishing Co. photograph, so this Mardi Gras could be anywhere from 1900-1910.

What's particularly interesting about this photo is that the parade is going the opposite direction from photos of other years around the turn of the century. Usually Rex paraded down Royal Street, through the French Quarter, turned right (lakebound) onto Canal, then back into the Quarter at Rampart. This photo has the parade going riverbound. We've seen earlier photos of Rex turning riverbound from Royal in the days before electrification, but not one after 1895 or so.

From 1872 until the 1920s, Rex rode a float that matched the parade's theme. The classic "Rex float" recognized the world over wasn't used until after World War I. This particular king's float is styled as a chariot. Note the mules pulling the float, a far cry from the huge tractors that pull floats like the "S. S. Endymion" or the "Bacchu-gator" in today's super-krewes.

The streetcars in the Canal Street neutral ground appear to be mostly (if not all) single-truck models. The wide monitor deck of the Ford, Bacon & Davis model dominates the scene, but there are a few Brill single-truck models parked as well, waiting for the parade. The two most prominent buildings in the scene are on the updown (CBD) side of the street, the Godchaux building at the corner of Canal and Carondelet (center) and the Chess, Checkers and Whist Club building, one block back at Canal and Baronne. By the time of the Perley Thomas streetcars, the crowds coming downtown for Rex had grown to the point where NOPSI began to back the streetcars down past Rampart Street, so the people could use the entire neutral ground.

The folks in the crowd appear to be excited that the parade has finally arrived. The weather looks good, and it's not too cold, judging by the lack of outerwear. Everyone wore a suit or nice dress when going "downtown," even on Carnival Day, and there certainly was no showing of much of anything going on.

Happy Mardi Gras, everyone!

Posted by YatPundit at February 19, 2007 1:37 PM

Trackback Pings

TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.nola-blogs.com/cgi-bin/mt/ruebourbon.cgi/627