Masking is another tradition that has a long history in New Orleans. Public Masking was outlawed in 1762 and is only legal now from dusk to dawn on Mardi Gras day. During the 1830's, however, reports of maskers on foot were reported on Fat Tuesday. Before Rex organized maskers into orderly parades, masking was done along the main streets of New Orleans on Fat Tuesday. Since 1985, The Mardi Gras Masks-a-thon has been held on Canal Street. This family oriented event is held on Fat Tuesday at 2 p.m. in the 600 block of Canal Street.
Carnival season always starts on January 6th and the season can vary from 28 to 63 days. In the beginning, during tribal times, a seed, bean, or nut was placed inside of a crown shaped cake made from the previous years wheat. This was done as part of the celebration for making it through the hard winter months. In more recent times, in twelfth century France, King's Day was celebrated with a similar cake with a tiny baby Jesus inside. The King Cake tradition began in New Orleans on January 6, 1870, which marked the first day of Carnival for that year. The Twelfth Night Revelers used this old European tradition to choose a queen. They would roll out the king cake and give slices to the young ladies. The lady who discovered the golden bean would be the queen. The others would find silver beans and serve as maids in her majesty's court.
