Mardi Gras may be traced to the Romans, whose pagan orgies were held during the spring season. In 1857, a secret society was foamed, called the Mystick Krewe of Comus. The French in New Orleans were having private masked balls and parties in 1718 that seem to be part of Mardi Gras. A few other places celebrate Mardi Gras, but not like New Orleans -- the City that Care Forgot!

      The first parade was formed by The Krewe of Rex formed in 1872 for Grand Duke Alexis Romanoff of Russia and that became part of the tradition. The men in Rex created a King "for the day" (and his Queen) and secretly anointed one of their own to be the King of Carnival. To this day, many parades keep their King's identity a secret until parade day.

      The official theme then became "If Ever I Cease to Love You." Mardi Gras has always been risque. Many of the secret societies also served charitable and social functions besides Mardi Gras.

      Mardi Gras means "Fat Tuesday" in French. Celebrated on Tuesday which falls between February 3 and March 9 depending on the Catholic Church's "Easter" date. Mardi Gras is always 47 days before Easter Sunday.
In Christian communities the 40 days preceding Easter is "Lent", a time of fasting and penitence, beginning "Ash Wednesday"

      So the Tuesday just before that is "Mardi Gras" or "Fat Tuesday", that represents the last chance for decadence and depravation before the time of austerity and fasting.

      The Parades of Mardi Gras are put on by carnival krewes (or organizations). Every year, each krewe picks a king and a queen who reign for that parade. There are floats are decorated with different themes. People who are in the krewe ride on the floats. They throw beads, doubloons, cups, and trinkets to the crowd.
Trinkets are thrown from a float. . The traditional phrase, "Throw me something, Mister!". The Beads, Doubloons, Cups (which bear the krewes emblem and theme for the year), and other trinkets of Mardi Gras may include candy, stuffed animals, Frisbees, spears, roses, balls, whistles, and so on. Show Me Something! It is becoming a tradition for ladies to flash their tits before receiving Mardi Gras throws.
After the parade, the krewe has a ball with their king and queen, and their royal court. The royal court includes captains, jesters maids, dukes, and pages .

      Kings Cakes King Cakes are cinnamon rolls twisted into an oval and covered with white icing and dyed sugar of green, purple, and gold. Hidden inside the king cake is small plastic baby. By tradition, the person who finds the baby in the king cake is the next queen or king and is the host the next king cake party.

      The King's Cake has its origins in pre-Christian religions of Western Europe in the custom of choose a man to be the "sacred king" of the tribe for a year, treated as a king for the year, the down side is, he would be sacrificed, and his blood returned to the soil to ensure that the harvest would be successful.