20 Delightfully Shameless Pictures From Mardi Gras History

Since Louisiana's first recorded Mardi Gras in 1699, revelers have celebrated this iconic Lenten tradition with vibrant parades, costumes, food, and music.

By
Gabriel H. Sanchez
by Gabriel H. Sanchez

BuzzFeed News Photo Essay Editor

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A Mardi Gras celebration in New Orleans, 1907.

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A parade during Mardi Gras, 1925.

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Four ladies sit in a flower-decorated automobile for Mardi Gras, 1905.

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Left: A clown is dressed, circa 1950. Right: Peter Peterson, the newly crowned "King of Harlem" for the 1953 New York Mardi Gras celebration, dances with his wife.

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A Mardi Gras parade in New Orleans, 1890.

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Mardi Gras, 1933.

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Left: A costumed man on the sidewalk during Mardi Gras celebrations, 1938. Right: Three men wearing lingerie stand among the crowd during Mardi Gras, 1938.

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People celebrate Mardi Gras in tinfoil balaclavas, circa 1955.

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Left: A neighborhood gathers for a Mardi Gras parade, circa 1950. Right: A woman dances in a hula skirt, circa 1950.

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Mardi Gras floats travel down Canal Street in New Orleans, circa 1950.

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Left: People dressed as clowns on a Mardi Gras float, circa 1950. Right: A group dressed as Wizard of Oz characters at a Mardi Gras celebration in New Orleans, circa 1955.

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Mardi Gras, 1939.

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Left: A group of girls in sunflower costumes, circa 1955. Right: Six princesses ride a parade float in their formals, circa 1950.

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A Mardi Gras float representing the signs of the zodiac, 1950.

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A group of people in costumes sit on the sidewalk and prepare for the Mardi Gras celebration, 1938.


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