1914 REX KING of CARNIVAL Parade Bulletin POSTER by WALLE & CO. LITHOGRAPHERS

  

1914 REX KING of CARNIVAL Parade Bulletin POSTER by WALLE & CO. THIS MONTH, WE ARE PLEASED TO OFFER MANY FINE ANTIQUE AND COLLECTIBLE ARTIFACTS AND RARITIES FROM MISSISSIPPI AND LOUISIANA ESTATES AND PRIVATE COLLECTIONS. FROM A NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA ESTATE, A LITHOGRAPHED PAPER MARDI GRAS BULLETIN MEASURING 20 x 30 OVERALL. TO THE TOP LEFT CORNER, A VIGNETTE DEPICTS FATHER TIME, ALONG WITH THE YEAR.

FLANKED BY TWENTY FLOATS, EACH DEPICTED WITH A REVELER HOLDING A PLACARD DESIGNATING THE THEME OR NAME OF THE FLOAT. NOTABLE CONDITION ISSUES A HORIZONTAL JAGGED TEAR AND OPEN SEPARATION AT THE LOWER RIGHT MARGIN A CURVED TEAR TO THE TOP RIGHT CORNER, NOW TAPED TO THE REAR SEVERAL VERTICAL FOLDS ROUGHNESS TO ALL EDGES WELL SUITED FOR MOUNTING, MATTING, FRAMING AND PRESERVATION. HISTORY of THE KREWE of REX. Rex, founded 1872, is a New Orleans Carnival Krewe which stages one of the city's most celebrated parades on Mardi Gras Day.

Rex is Latin for "King", and Rex reigns as "The King of Carnival". Rex was organized by New Orleans businessmen in part to put on a spectacle in honor of the New Orleans visit of Grand Duke Alexei Alexandrovich of Russia (remembered locally as "Grand Duke Alexis") during the 1872 Carnival season. Also in the minds of the founders of Rex was the desire to lure tourism and business to New Orleans in the years after the American Civil War. Rex has held more parades in New Orleans than any other parading organization.

Its official song is "If Ever I Cease to Love", a quirky tune from the 1870s musical "Bluebeard". This was adopted because the Grand Duke Alexis of Russia had a fondness for the actress who sang the song in the musical, which was playing in New Orleans at the time of the first Rex parade in 1872. It has stuck around since then and is played often during Carnival.

Traditionally, the secretive membership was restricted to New Orleans residents of European ancestry for most of its history, typically being elected from the membership rolls of The Boston Club including the first Rex, Louis Solomon a Jewish businessman. However, in 1991 the New Orleans city council passed an ordinance that required social organizations, including Mardi Gras Krewes, to certify publicly that they did not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, gender or sexual orientation, in order to obtain parade permits and other public licensure. In effect, the ordinance required these, and other, private social groups to abandon their traditional code of secrecy and identify their members for the city's Human Relations Commission.

The decision of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals appears at volume 42, page 1483 of the Federal Reporter (3rd Series), or 42 F. The Supreme Court refused to hear the city's appeal from this decision. The Rex organization and the Mistick Krewe of Comus still hold their annual balls together on Mardi Gras night. Rex assembles floats using techniques that have spanned generations, entirely by hand. Contrary to popular belief, Rex floats are not built over Civil War-era cotton wagons; they are instead built on wagons formerly employed by the City of New Orleans to collect refuse in the late 19th century.

The Rex parade is put on by The School of Design. Since 1971, the parade has started at the corner of Napoleon Avenue and South Claiborne Avenue, proceeding south on Napoleon to St. Charles Avenue, then east on St. THE HISTORY OF MARDI GRAS. Mardi Gras came to New Orleans through its French heritage in 1699. Early explorers celebrated this French Holiday on the banks of the Mississippi River. Throughout the years, Orleanians have added to the celebration by establishing krewes (organizations) which host parades and balls.

Carnival quickly became an exciting holiday for both children and adults. Mardi Gras means "Fat Tuesday" and of course is celebrated on that day of the week. The date can fall between February 3 and March 9 depending on the Lunar calendar, used by the Catholic Church to determine the date of Easter.

Mardi Gras is always 47 days before Easter Sunday. The official colors for Mardi Gras are purple, green, and gold. These colors were chosen in 1872 by the King of Carnival, Rex. He chose these colors to stand for the following. The Mardi Gras season begins on January 6 and continues until Fat Tuesday, the day before Ash Wednesday. On the Christian calendar, the twelfth day after Christmas is known as "Epiphany", "Twelfth Night", or Kings Day. It is the day the gift-bearing Magi visited the baby Jesus, and is celebrated with its own unique rituals.