The definitive guide to all things Mardi Gras . . . past and present! From Twelfth Night to Ash Wednesday, New Orleans is transformed. Queens and fools, demons and dragons reign over the Crescent City. This vividly photographed book is a lively, comprehensive history of Mardi Gras in New Orleans. Fascinating and intimate, this book seamlessly intertwines the past with the present.

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One of the first women's organizations to mask and perform during Mardi Gras, the Million Dollar Baby Dolls redefined the New Orleans carnival tradition. Tracing their origins from Storyville-era brothels and dance halls to their re-emergence in post-Katrina New Orleans, author Kim Marie Vaz uncovers the fascinating history of the "raddy-walking, shake-dancing, cigar-smoking, money-flinging" ladies who strutted their way into a predominantly male establishment. The Baby Dolls formed around 1912 as an organization of African American women who used their profits from working in New Orleans's red-light district to compete with other Black prostitutes on Mardi Gras. Part of this event involved the tradition of masking, in which carnival groups create a collective identity through costuming. Their baby doll costumes -- short satin dresses, stockings with garters, and bonnets -- set against a bold and provocative public behavior not only exploited stereotypes but also empowered and made visible an otherwise marginalized female demographic. Over time, different neighborhoods adopted the Baby Doll tradition, stirring the creative imagination of Black women and men across New Orleans, from the downtown Trem area to the uptown community of Mahalia Jackson. Vaz follows the Baby Doll phenomenon through one hundred years with photos, articles, and interviews and concludes with the birth of contemporary groups, emphasizing these organizations' crucial contribution to Louisiana's cultural history.

Brandy Alexander. Names for a cold drink and a hot babe. In New Orleans the combination can be dangerous. So with a name like Brandy Alexander - it seems her life's course was already determined. On the day she was born, her father and uncle waited in a bar and decided that Brandy would be a great name for a girl with the last name of Alexander. Her mother reminds her is it a great one for a stripper and blames Brandy-as if she had anything to do with it. Being childhood sweethearts with her police officer boyfriend, doesn't stop her from kissing a handsome stranger at a Mardi Gras Parade. A kiss that rocks her world and complicates her life. Before she has a chance to find out his name or who he is - he is shot By the time an ambulance arrives, he has asked for her help in saving Isabella. Isabella is not at all what she expected. As Brandy tries to unravel the sudden complications in her life, the Mardi Gras parade serves as a backdrop and foil to her search for answers. Disguised identities in crowded and narrow streets, colorful characters and a four-legged femme fatale add up to magic, mystery and dazzling reveals. Will Brandy ever find out the true identity of her Mardi Gras mystery man? Who is Isabella and why is she so important to him? New Orleans is a character of its own in this whimsical story of tangled lives, plot twists and historical references. Just as music is an essential part of New Orleans, so is the lyrical lexicon of club patrons, locals and a friend called Duck Man. Brandy Alexander lives up to her name in the first of The Go Cup Chronicle Series. She stirs up trouble but will she remain unshaken? There's no place like New Orleans to have a good crime. From the Series The New Orleans Go Cup Chronicles

This is a beautiful introduction to the multicultural art and architecture of the "Crescent City," the cognomen given to the city nestled along a tight bend of the Mississippi River. In this introductory history, the reader is familiarized with many new terms reflecting the multiethnic complexity of the local population. The combination of African, French, and Anglo-American immigrants formed a unique Creole culture that has produced its own music, cuisine, art, and architecture, displayed superbly in a vast variety of photographs.

When the smiling King of Carnival is killed at Mardi Gras, policewoman Skip Langdon is on the case. She knows the upper-crust family of the victim and that it hides more than its share of glittering skeletons. But nothing could prepare her for the tangled web of clues and ancient secrets that would mean danger for her--and doom for the St. Amants.... "Smith is a gifted writer." THE WASHINGTON POST BOOK WORLD

A biography of the life, work, and legacy of a pivotal figure in New Orleans cultural history. Based on more than seventy interviews with the subject and his close friends and family, this biography delves deep into the life of Donald Harrison—a waiter, performer, mentor to musicians, philosopher, devoted family man, and, most notably, the Big Chief of the Guardians of the Flame, a Mardi Gras Indian tribe. The firsthand accounts and anecdotes from those who knew him offer insight into the electrifying existence of a man who enriched the culture of New Orleans, took pride in his African American heritage, and advocated education throughout the city. Beneath a vibrant costume of colorful feathers and intricate beading stood a man of conviction who possessed a great intellect and intense pride. Harrison grew up during the Great Depression and faced discrimination throughout his life but refused to bow down to oppression. Through determination and an insatiable eagerness to learn, he found solace in philosophy, jazz, and art and spiritual meaning in the Mardi Gras Indian tradition. He shared his ideals and discoveries with his family, whom he protected fiercely, until he took his last breath in 1998. Harrison’s wife, children, and grandchildren continue to carry his legacy by furthering literacy programs for New Orleans’ youth. From Harrison’s birth in 1933 to his desire to become a Mardi Gras Indian to the moment he met his beloved wife, author Al Kennedy shares Harrison’s significant life experiences. He allows Big Chief Donald to take center stage and explain—in his own words—the mysterious world of the Mardi Gras Indians, their customs, and beliefs. Rare personal photographs from family albums depict the Big Chief with his family, parading through the streets on Carnival Day, and performing the timeless rituals of the Mardi Gras Indians of New Orleans. This well-researched biography presents a side of the Big Chief the public did not see, revealing the rebellious spirit of a man who demanded respect, guarded his family, and guided his tribe with utmost pride. Praise for Big Chief Harrison and the Mardi Gras Indians “Enormously enjoyable, richly informative, and deeply moving. . . . To meet the Harrisons is to encounter an America you can't help but fall in love with and be inspired by forever, while gaining a glimpse into the powerful and meaningful tradition of the Mardi Gras Indians in New Orleans. It's a story of strength, passion, survival, and resistance. It’s a story for today.” —Jonathan Demme, Academy Award–winning director “Building on his impressive knowledge of New Orleans culture, Al Kennedy delivers a masterpiece of artistic biography. The world needs to know about Big Chief Donald Harrison, Sr. Al Kennedy tells his full story in this wonderful book. . . . A powerful read.” —Robert Farris Thompson, Col. John Trumbull Professor, History of Art; Master of Timothy Dwight College, Yale University; and author, Tango: The Art History of Love, Face of the Gods, and Aesthetic of the Cool