Mardi Gras has been a part of my life from the very beginning. I have always celebrated it as a spiritual holiday as I was raised Catholic in Louisiana. I have experienced Mardi Gras many different ways, including marching as a majorette in high school, going to Mardi Gras balls, and throwing ashes in the river. There is still so much Mardi Gras left to experience, but here I share my experience of a tradition that goes back to the beginning of Mardi Gras — street masquerades. May my memories give color to your perception of the spirit of Carnival.
Mirth and Discord and Fantasy
A lot of nonsense happens during Mardi Gras. Scammers descend on the city for the influx of tourists. Underground parties attract like minds. Rivers of drugs and money and liquor flow alongside the Mississippi for the two weeks leading up to Fat Tuesday.
Among the illegal activities happening around town are unauthorized, secret parades. Parades designed and executed without any city approval, planned or approved route, or prior mention that it will be happening. These parades are unadvertised. You’re lucky if you get a glimpse because they pass by your house.
Or maybe you’re lucky enough to find yourself in the orbit of the very talented artists who make Mardi Gras. They have the secret recipes for rain defying papier mâché used on floats. They have the skilled hands that sculpt paint and plaster into Bœuf Gras (the fattened calf), jesters, and the current mayor.
They become the people who extend these skills to secret and brilliant parades and parties during Carnival season. These motley krewes guard their secrets closely because they lack permits. One year, I managed to piece together clues with a friend to join one of those secret parades.
Getting to the balls quickly becomes part of the custom. Parading through the streets in costumes without any planned route, sometimes in groups, became the Carnival tradition.
The Picayune, February 8, 1837, page 2
In the late 1830s, informal parades were organized, according to the Mardi Gras display at The Cabildo. This is, however, also when The Picayune was established, the most thoroughly archived newspaper…When something seems to appear in the late 1830s in New Orleans, I’m skeptical that this is actually when we have the first documentation of it in our newspaper archive.
The 1847 write up discusses violent occurrences including throwing flour and mud at maskers, but that the balls were quote “a redeeming and agreeable feature in the celebrations of the day” unquote.
Formal parades were first planned in 1857 with Comus, but there was no planned route. The the story goes, six men from Mobile, Alabama, invited their friends to meet at the Gem Coffeehouse on Royal Street to form the Mistick Krewe of Comus, coining the word Krewe and modern Mardi Gras secret societies. In Greek mythology, Comus, the god of festivity, is the cup bearer of Dionysus. Bacchus is another name for Dionysus, the god of wine and theater.
In 1857, they pulled off a parade with a theme of Paradise Lost. The Library of Congress has a Mardi Gras handbook printed in 1874 that explains each of the parades from the beginning until it was printed1. Comus pursued elaborate themes for their parades. They did not plan or announce the routes, so the crowds were out looking for Comus to appear.
The New Orleans Republican, May 3, 1872, page 7
Rex first paraded in 1872. They envisioned the new krewe as a daytime tourist spectacle. Rex was an attempt to establish order around the chaos that led to violence on previous Mardi Gras celebrations. They also decided on the traditional colors — purple for justice, gold for power and green for faith — although we didn’t get the meanings until 1892, according to Arthur Hardy2. The governor signed the Mardi Gras Act in 1872 also, making Mardi Gras a legal holiday in Louisiana.
1904 was the first mention I could find about the Zulu parade. Zulu is clearly mocking the fake royalty of the old line Mardi Gras krewes, which is a large part of the Mardi Gras tradition. Today, some of the most popular parades are satirical krewes that harshly mock the city’s leadership.
The Weekly Times-Picayune, Fri, Feb 19, 1904 ·Page 3
The Gathering
I knew what day but nothing else. My friend found where they were meeting using Adderall-induced focus, multiple social media platforms, and an extended network of New Orleanians. We got dressed even though we still didn’t know the theme and found exactly what we expected — hundreds of costumed revelers ready to celebrate the themed parade. The theme was not readily apparent.
A man had a cart loaded with candles shaped like hands that burned the whole parade. It was my friend’s birthday, so she pinned money to her costume, as you do. She was gifted a poster commemorating the event. She didn’t have a bag, honestly didn’t seem to care about the poster, and asked me to hold it for her. I framed it to give to her as a birthday gift. But I still have the poster.
We started somewhere under the interstate. I’m not sure where it ended and I can’t remember if that’s because we didn’t finish the parade or the location was too obscure to identify.
The next morning, my friend sent me a video she saw on Instagram of us walking in the parade. Someone who lived on the route had filmed us going by with an “only in New Orleans” type caption.
Part II
The next year I had more intel on where and when and went with another friend. We even managed to find the ball a few weeks before the parade, where I learned one of the best lessons of throwing a party.
The decorations for the event were, of course, amazing. But I was most impressed by a woman stationed at the door who greeted every guest and complimented them. She gushed sincere praise for costumes, outfits, wigs, and makeup for every single person who entered. It was the most generous good vibes, and I’ve never forgotten how she made everyone feel that night.
We knew the parade theme this time — Sports.
I dressed as a cheerleader — spandex, sparkles, and enthusiasm. Many groups had planned performances to correlate with their costumes. There was another group of cheerleaders with a whole routine, including stunts.
The Trophy from the sports themed secret Mardi Gras parade
The most creative costume ensemble I saw was curlers who curled across the street (while the light was green and cars were waiting) with a stone made from a rotisserie chicken container. No horns were honked and much laughter ensued.
The parade ended in a neighborhood park where any sport you could imagine was played in acid-soaked extreme.
IYKYK
So many revelers will brag about riding on huge floats in the big parades, indicating that they spent thousands of dollars to reign above the crowds.
I prefer to be down on the street but still behind a mask like the original revelers, celebrating in experiences ignored by the masses and cherished by those who know. Even if it takes days to piece together clues to join the party. Because, ultimately, figuring it out, admiring the creativity, and indulging in ancient myths is part of the party.
What’s your favorite Mardi Gras memory?
Sources
Madden, John W., Pub. Hand book of the carnival, containing Mardi-Gras, its ancient and modern observance . New Orleans, J. W. Madden, printer, 1874. Pdf. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/13018464/>. ↩︎
Hardy, Arthur. Mardi Gras in New Orleans: An Illustrated History. ↩︎
Have you heard the tales of Red Light Liz and Joe the Whipper? The supposed lovers of the red light district of New Orleans who trafficked in creative names and masochistic pleasure? They appear in many oft-cited versions of the history of New Orleans.
I hadn’t heard of them either. When I recognized the overlapping accounts in three different sources, I realized that the three men who wrote about Red Light twisted and abused her story to paint a different idea of what life was like in the red light districts of New Orleans that eventually erupted into the only quasi-legal red light district in the United States, Storyville.
515 Dauphine, Formerly 111 Dauphine
There are three prominent, but differing, accounts of Red Light that most retellings are referencing — The French Quarter by Herbert Asbury from 1936, Sportin’ House by Stephen Longstreet from 1965, and Storyville, New Orleans by Al Rose from 1974. Then there’s what happened according to the newspaper reports, which is, of course, completely different from the story the writers told. And then there’s the court cases.
What really happened?
I’m not sure if it’s possible to understand Red Light’s story as it actually happened, but maybe we can learn from the variations of the story. With the clues from Asbury’s version, I found the newspaper articles he was referencing.
From there, I found the court records. I had to wait two weeks for the City Archives to flatten the records. The cases are hand written and folded in thirds seemingly since they were written, so roughly 140 years. If Asbury did reference the court cases, they were last referenced in the 1930s, so about 90 years ago. But you’ll learn that I do not think he did reference the primary documents.
Joe the Whipper by Herbert Asbury
“From about 1850 to the early 1880s, except for infrequent clean-up periods, conditions in Dauphine and Burgundy Streets were so bad as to be almost unbelievable. From Canal to Toulouse Streets virtually every building was a brothel, filled with fighting, brawling strumpets of the lowest class. The whole area fairly swarmed with streetwalkers and their ‘fancy men,’ and in the absence of permanent quarters the perambulating bawds flung a piece of old carpet on the sidewalk and entertained their customers in full view of passers-by and the prostitutes in the houses, who screamed advice and abuse from the windows and kept pails of hot water handy to discourage use of the doorsteps. Inside the bordellos prices ranged from fifteen to fifty cents; on the sidewalk the standard rate was a dime. Many of these women were addicted to flagellation, and their needs in this respect were served by a professional flaggellant called Joe the Whipper, who was a familiar figure on Dauphine and Burgundy Streets for many years. He carried with him always a black bag containing the tools of his trade — switches, whips, and thin, flexible metal rods.
I think Asbury is the original source for the Joe the Whipper story. I did not find any other mentions earlier than this. That means that the first reference to Joe the Whipper is at least 50 years after the events took place.
Joe the Whipper by Stephen Longstreet
“In Dauphine and Burgundy Streets, Canal to Toulouse Streets, nearly every building is a brothel. Streets swarm with streetwalkers and fancy men. Some put a piece of carpet on the sidewalk and entertain customers in view of passersby. Pails of hot water were kept to discourage use of the doorsteps. Inside prices were fifteen to fifty cents; on the sidewalk a dime. Many women were addicted to the whip and were served by a specialist, who at his trade of flagellant was called Joe the Whipper. He carried a black bag for the tools of his trade—switches, whips, flexible metal rods, cat of nine-tails. [He worked for years unmolested, servicing his clients powerfully.]”
Longstreet is discredited. However, he is clearly referencing Asbury here and hewed closely to his story. Except where he adds the embellishment that Joe was unmolested and powerful.
Red Light Liz by Herbert Asbury
“At No. 111 Dauphine Street was a brothel which was described by the Picayune in 1885 as the worst Negro dive in the city, and which at that time was the particular haunt of Red Light Liz, the sweetheart of Joe the Whipper and a noted brawler.”
Red Light Liz and Joe the Whipper by Al Rose
“Mortality among law enforcement officers was high, and the police soon learned to tackle the Gallatin Street beat only in groups. The street was the center of narcotics traffic, as well as the home of dealers in stolen goods. Fugitives from every nation’s laws found shelter here.
“Mike Haden, who had so thoroughly ventilated his brother with a razor; America Williams, ‘the world’s strongest whore’; Mary Schwartz, who had permanently blinded a customer in a row over her fifty-cent fee; Red-Light Liz, the one-eyed paramour of Joe the Whipper, who made a good living administering beatings to masochistic harlots, using whips, switches, steel rods, razor straps, or canes, according to the lady’s preference—such as these were typical of those who found safe haven on Gallatin Street.”
Rose moves the whole operation to Gallatin Street instead of Dauphine, and, inexplicably, makes Liz one-eyed. He also adds razor straps to Joe’s repertory, which seems unnecessarily bloody.
What the Newspapers Say
I found Red Light in the newspapers using the clues Asbury gives us in the The French Quarter. Although that story is very different from any of the accounts in the three books. Her name is Jennie not Liz. She is a notorious thief in most of the reports.
Red Light The Times-Picayune Tue, Jun 23, 1885 ·Page 2
It seems like the next article may be Joe the Whipper. If it is, I’m astonished that Asbury turned this story of domestic violence into anything consensual. If she’s screaming for help, she is not addicted to your beating.
Joe the Whipper? The Times-Picayune Tue, Oct 30, 1883, page 2
Sometimes we get things wrong because we misunderstood. Sometimes we get things wrong because we forgot. Sometimes we turn the tale into a whole new one to protect the men? To condemn the women? To entertain? Did he change her name to protect her memory?
Beyond the fanciful tales and shocking news reports, what do the records say? I found police records and court cases for Red Light and Rosamie. I also found the census and directory records for 111 Dauphine Street.
What the Court Cases Say
September 1883
July 1884
October 1884
January 1885
February 1885
March 1885
April 1885
I found seven arrest records for Red Light and two corresponding cases in the criminal court files.
In 1884, the police accused Red Light and Rosamie of murdering an old man named Wade Hampton, resulting in most references to the couple. The victim’s alias was Dad, and the police thought Red Light and Rosamie murdered him to rob him. According to the newspaper, the case was dismissed because of a lack of evidence.
Earlier in 1884, Red Light is among those accused of robbing a man named David Rosenbaum. For this case we have the arrest record, the court documents, and newspaper articles to gather information from.
The Times-Picayune, February 4, 1884, page 1The Times-Picayune, February 9, 1884, page 2
Rosenbaum claimed that Victoria Williams and Lizzie Woods stole $525 from him. Jennie Red Light and Joseph Ben were accessories to the theft when the police found $271 under their mattress, and Rosenbaum claimed it was his. Rosenbaum disappeared before the four were prosecuted. Thus, they were not guilty in April 1884.
It’s unclear what happened to the $271, but it possibly disappeared with Rosenbaum. It makes me wonder if that was his money, if his money was stolen at all, if perhaps he made a few easy bucks by accusing others with reputations for thievery and taking their money?
I did not find Jennie in the census or directories. But I did find a marriage record for Joseph Ben and Mary Robinson. Could Jennie’s real name be Mary? I couldn’t find Mary in the census either.
The Johns: Audubon
111 Dauphine is now 509-515 Dauphine. It is a complex of buildings known as the Audubon Cottages, luxury rooms for visitors to New Orleans since 1975. In 1975, the entire complex sold to Audubon Cottages, Ltd. for $150,000.
Built in 1827, John Audubon reportedly stayed here in the 1820s. There is doubt that he did because of the fact that a free woman of color named Henriette Prieto owned the property from 1822-1841. Henriette was the partner of Jean Baptiste Barthelemy MaCarty, who was the first cousin of Delphine Lalaurie. She owned several properties in the French Quarter, so she probably rented some of them out. It’s possible John Audubon was one of the renters. She also bought and sold enslaved people. She left this property to three of her children who owned it until it was sold to John Langles.
The Johns: Langles
John Langles owned this property from 1871-1901, according to the Historic New Orleans Collection. John was the president of the Union Sanitation Excavating Company, cleaning privies according to the census. He died in 1890 in France. His wife and daughter’s death in an 1898 shipwreck resulted in a historic succession case, which is listed on the daughter’s tomb.
The mother and daughter both left their estates to each other, and then died together in the shipwreck. The courts had to decide who died first to figure out how the succession should proceed. Ultimately, it was decided that since the daughter was younger and a swimmer that she would outlive her mother in the disaster. The stone bridge in city park is named after the daughter, Angele, because she included City Park in her will.
The Langles were extremely wealthy and owned a lot of property. They never lived at 111 Dauphine.
In the 1880 census, 111 Dauphine houses Frank Fritz, his wife Mary, and their servant Louise Band. The 1890 census, was famously destroyed in a 1921 fire. In the 1900 census, 515 Dauphine is where Hone Chake, a Chinese immigrant, lives.
In the 1886 New Orleans City Directory, Mrs. Frederick Fritz is providing furnished rooms. This coincides with the census information showing the Fritzes at 111 Dauphine in 1880. Mrs. Fritz is probably renting the rooms to Red Light and Lizzie and Victoria.
Conclusion
I recognize that it’s only recently that we can find these stories in the newspaper record so easily. The previous writers are using Asbury’s research for their stories. Did Asbury assume that Red Light’s denying that Rosamie struck her was an indication that she sought the beating? Why did Rose change the story to Gallatin Street and steal one of her eyes? He lists Asbury as one of his sources.
Red Light’s torture became a risque story of the vice of New Orleans repeated for generations as an example of how sinful, depraved, craven the women of the Crescent City can get.
This story doesn’t just appear in these three books. A quick Google search reveals that Joe the Whipper has been immortalized recently too, including a murder mystery dinner theater/game that was happening on Frenchmen Street in the 2020s.
Isn’t it funny that the guest house at 515 Dauphine, which really was a “den of thieves”, uses a story bout John Audubon for marketing while another hotel up the street uses a story of a brothel for theirs.
Brunet, Jennie. No. 4705, Sec. A. Grand Larceny, Nolle Prosequi (1885)
Brunet, Jennie. No. 2188, Sec. A. Murder, Not a True Bill (1883?)
Benton, Joseph. No. 4360 Sec. B. Assault and Battery, Nolle Prosequi
1880 Census, ED 35, page 1
1900 Census, ED 46 4th Precinct New Orleans city Ward 5, page 2
Postscript
Asbury gave us two more stories of women who lived at this address, Fanny Peel and Nellie Gaspar.
“In earlier days, however, the house had been occupied by white prostitutes, and gained considerable renown by reason of the reason of the tragic end of one of its inmates, Nellie Gaspar; and the mere presence of another, a woman known as ‘the notorious Fanny Peel.’ The latter said to have been the most beautiful courtesan who ever appeared in New Orleans, was, according to the newspapers, the daughter of a clergyman of Troy, New York, and a graduate of the Troy Female Seminary. She was seduced at fifteen, in 1843, and immediately became a prostitute, an almost compulsory fate in those days, when a girl once ruined was ruined forever. After a career in Chicago and other cities, during which she was the mistress of several important men and accumulated a considerable fortune, she came to New Orleans in 1857 with her coachman, a free Negro, whom she immediately sold as a slave to a Louisiana planter. She entered the brothel at No. 111 Dauphine Street, but was soon dismissed because she refused to have anything to do with the men who visited the place—she said they weren’t good enough for her. She went to Mobile early in 1858 and died there during the summer of that year.
“Nellie Gaspar, the daughter of a London innkeeper, came to New Orleans in 1866 as a performer in Smith’s European Circus. She was ruined by a smooth-tongued New Orleans scoundrel, who then put her in the Dauphine Street brothel. She was expelled because she went out too often…”
I found the Nellie Gaspar and Fanny Peel stories very easily in the newspaper. Those stories are almost identical to the account in The French Quarter. I did verify that there was a “European circus” in New Orleans in 1866. There were two. However, neither was Smith’s. They were Howe’s or Murray’s. The French Quarter and references to it are the only sources I found for Smith’s European Circus. I found neither Nellie nor Fanny in any other records.
The Bangor Daily Evening Times Tue, Aug 10, 1858 ·Page 1The New-Orleans Times Tue, Oct 06, 1868 ·Page 2
Last year, after the terrorist attack on Bourbon Street, I needed some comfort. I found it in a very unexpected place — a meal I dreaded growing up. Food of often has tradition and meaning in cultures around the world. New Orleans is no different. Foods that are seasonal, like oysters and crawfish, include a ritual around the consumption. King Cake includes curses and legends.
On New Years Day, every year, my mom insisted that we eat cabbage and black eyed peas. Cabbage for money and black eyed peas for luck or health. I did not enjoy most meals over rice as a child. I’m still not sure exactly why. Maybe frequency was a factor? Boiled cabbage, slimy and salty, is still on my Do Not Like list. She would spoon a little on our plates, just a taste, so we didn’t break the tradition, while we mostly ate other delicious things like fried back strap.
As an adult, I discovered that I actually do like cabbage and black eyed peas, even over rice, just cooked quite differently. I spent a year in China after I graduated from college, and that year was formative. The constant rice was a an odd reminder of home. Almost 20 years later, I still incorporate Chinese flavors into comfort food because that is a part of my comfort tradition.
This is my mildly Chinese cabbage stir fry recipe and a simple pressure cooker black eyed peas recipe, both adopted from the genius minds of others for my personal palate. Happy New Year! I hope your 2026 is everything you want.
Cabbage and Black Eyed Peas
The traditional January 1 meal for New Orleanians updated with flavors from around the world
