2/13/1866 – On This Day In Alabama History: Mobile Held Its First Fat Tuesday Parade
By Graydon RustAlabama 200
February 13, 1866
Joseph Stillwell Cain paraded through downtown Mobile on Fat Tuesday in the city’s first carnival celebration since before the Civil War. Dressed as a fictional Chickasaw chief named Slackabamarinico, Cain and six others rode through the city in a decorated charcoal wagon playing horns and drums as they declared an end to the suffering the city experienced during the Civil War. Cain is credited with moving Mobile’s Mardi Gras celebration from New Year’s Eve to the more traditional pre-Lenten period and, since the 1960s, is honored each year with a parade on Joe Cain Day, held the Sunday before Fat Tuesday.
RELATED: How well do you know your Mardi Gras history?Read more at Encyclopedia of Alabama.
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Bill Murray is the President of The Weather Factory. He is the site's official weather historian and a weekend forecaster. He also anchors the site's severe weather coverage. Bill Murray is the proud holder of National Weather Association Digital Seal #0001 @wxhistorianSubscribe
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