Rex Parade 1935.  Floats designed by Léda Hincks Plauché.  Float title: "Where Gay Flowers Come to Life" [No. 14].  Date: March 5, 1935.  Location: New Orleans, LA.  On the Corner of St. Charles Avenue and Julia Street.

Mardi Gras day is almost here.

Before heading down to Canal Street this Carnival season, take a look at Mardi Gras day in 1935.  Select Mardi Gras photographs from LSU Special Collections are available for viewing online. The photographs are part of the Sidney V. Arbour, Jr. family papers.  This manuscript collection contains a photograph album with 20 photographs taken on Mardi Gras day in New Orleans, 1935.  Nine of the 20 photographs contain two photographs per print.  Double prints result in a total 29 separate photographic images.  Most of the photographs were taken at the Rex Parade on St. Charles Avenue near Julia Street.   

Two costumed revelers in the street on Mardi Gras Day in New Orleans.

Rex Parade 1935.  Floats designed by Léda Hincks Plauché.  Float title top: "Where Nature Rested" [No. 20]; Float title bottom: "Where Love is Placed" [No. 19].  Date: March 5, 1935.   Location: New Orleans, LA.  St. Charles Avenue near the corner of Julia Street.

All 29 images have been digitized and are available on Flickr.  Images have been digitally enhanced to clarify visual details and information.     Two pages from the Arbour family photograph album are also available online in Louisiana Digital Library.     Original float designs by Léda Hincks Plauché for Rex 1935 are available online through the New Orleans Public Library.     Sidney V. Arbour, Jr. Family Papers, Mss. 5075, Louisiana and Lower Mississippi Valley Collections, LSU Libraries, Baton Rouge, La.     Sidney V. Arbour, Jr. was a prominent Baton Rouge, La., resident, World War II veteran and real estate agent. During World War II, Sidney Arbour, Jr. served with both the Atlantic and Pacific fleets. He served as a U.S. Navy gunnery officer aboard the USS HOUSATONIC and the USS SIBLEY. After the war, he was involved in the local real estate market. He also served as president of the Florida Plaza Corp., which expanded and managed Bon Marche Mall in Baton Rouge. Arbour married Ann Bryant Wilbert in 1947. Throughout her life, Ann participated in a number of civic and Catholic organizations. She served as president of the Junior League of Baton Rouge. She was member of the Catholic Diocesan Council of Home and School Associations, and a founding member of the Baton Rouge Eye Bank Auxiliary. Sidney and Ann Arbour had six children together.

Carnival day and Rex Parade as chronicled in the Times-Picayune, March 6, 1935.

First-hand accounts of Mardi Gras day parades, float descriptions and Carnival events may be found in the Times-Picayune. “Rex and Comus Parades, Masked Revelers and Gala Balls Mark Glorious New Orleans Holiday.” Times-Picayune [New Orleans], 6 Mar. 1935, 1, 3. “Rex’ One-Day Reign Over City Ends With Gala Ball.” Times-Picayune [New Orleans], 6 Mar. 1935, 3. 

RELATED MATERIALS

Rex related Mardi Gras items from LSU Special Collections digitized in LDL:     Additional materials from LSU Special Collections related to Mardi Gras Ephemera: