Jim Bradshaw: When Uncle Sam took over Mardi Gras

Mardi Gras in 1942 was a pretty bleak affair. Bombs raining on Pearl Harbor had forced a once-reluctant United States into World War II just months before. People had more serious things on their minds than the pranks and pageantry of Carnival.
Gov. Sam Jones said that he would not formally proclaim a Mardi Gras legal holiday, even though it was designated one in Louisiana. He said state employees, and everyone else, should go about their business just like any other day. The attorney general ruled that, proclamation or not it was still a holiday, but agreed with the governor that people should put aside the celebration.
Most people did. The Lafayette Advertiser reported, “Mardi Gras opened quietly and closed just as calmly as the majority of Lafayette’s people went their normal way, in spite of the usual hilarity that marks the holiday. … People were preoccupied with matters of national importance.”
Both of the major Carnival clubs in Lafayette had announced that they were suspending celebrations for the duration of the war and returning the dues paid by members. They recommended that the money should be used instead to buy war bonds. That idea took even greater form in New Orleans, where, as the Associated Press reported, “Uncle Sam reigned as king of the Mardi Gras here today as the nearly century old celebration, blacked out by the war, was turned into a defense bond rally.
“Retail establishments usually thousands of dollars richer from … tourist spending devoted their efforts and advertising to selling defense stamps and bonds. … Citizens, who annually shelled out their dollars on the lavish Mardi Gras parades and glittering balls, did their parading to special booths set up all over the city and spent their money for the war effort.”
Organizers reported that they sold more than $400,000 — nearly $8 million in today’s dollars — on Mardi Gras day in New Orleans.
That was important. World War II was very expensive and the government needed every dollar it could generate, including borrowing from ordinary Americans. Anybody could buy a $25 War Bond for $18.75. The government used the money to pay for military supplies. After 10 years, the War Bond could be redeemed at a profit of $6.25. People bought them out of patriotism, not to make a profit. During the course of the war, more than 84 million Americans bought about $185 billion in bonds.
In some places, such as Morgan City, there were modest celebrations because they were used to raise funds for organizations that were important locally. In the words of the Morgan City Review, “The events staged in Morgan City … are unlike those in [New Orleans] because here the proceeds are to a great extent the year’s operating revenue for those inestimable organizations — the Morgan City and Sacred Heart Parent Teacher Associations.” It cost 80 cents per couple to attend the annual PTA dance that earned $411 to be divided between the two groups.
In Rayne the admission price was only 25 cents for a dance to benefit the high school band. Admission to the Mothers Club Mardi Gras bingo party in Eunice was also only a quarter.
The school day ended early in Opelousas so kids could attend a children’s carnival to benefit the ladies’ auxiliary at the Episcopal church. In Church Point, the Altar Society and Mothers’ Club said their supper and dance was “a complete success” with “splendid patronage.
There were similar subdued celebrations in a few other communities, but more places reported much the same as the Teche News in St. Martinville: “Mardi Gras … was very calm here. Very few, in fact hardly any, maskers were on the streets.”
That report would be repeated across south Louisiana until finally, on Jan. 6, 1946, the feast of the Epiphany and traditional opening of the Carnival Season, the AP was able to announce, “It’s Mardi Gras season again.”
“Tonight the ball of the Twelfth Night Revelers, second oldest of the many contemporary ‘krewes’ of merrymakers started [New Orleans’s] first carnival whirl since the war interrupted such goings-on,” the AP reported.
Communities across south Louisiana weren’t far behind in resuming their celebrations with gusto — to celebrate the war’s end, to celebrate because it was Mardi Gras season again, and to celebrate just because we love a good time for whatever reason.
You can contact Jim Bradshaw at jimbradshaw4321@gmail.com or P.O. Box 1121, Washington LA 70589.