Editing Mobile, Alabama (section)

===Carnival and Mardi Gras===
{{See also|Mardi Gras in Mobile, Alabama|Mystic society}}
[[File:Mobile Order of Incas parade 03.jpg|thumb|upright|Order of Inca night parade in 2009]]

The Carnival season has expanded throughout the late fall and winter: [[Ball (dance)|balls]] in the city may be scheduled as early as November, with the [[parade]]s beginning after January 5 and the Twelfth Day of Christmas or Epiphany on January 6.<ref name="mgrasfaqs">{{cite web |title=Mardi Gras FAQS |work=Mobile Carnival Museum |url=http://www.mobilecarnivalmuseum.com/MardiGras.aspx |access-date=December 2, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070911025505/http://www.mobilecarnivalmuseum.com/MardiGras.aspx |archive-date=September 11, 2007}}</ref><ref name="carnivalterminology">{{cite web|title=Mardi Gras Terminology |work=Mobile Bay Convention & Visitors Bureau |url=http://www.mobile.org/vis_mardigras_terms.php |access-date=November 18, 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071209165238/http://www.mobile.org/vis_mardigras_terms.php |archive-date=December 9, 2007}}</ref> Carnival celebrations end at midnight on [[Mardi Gras]], a moveable feast related to the timing of Lent and Easter. The next day is [[Ash Wednesday]] and the beginning of [[Lent]], the 40-day penitential season before Easter.<ref name="slacabamorinico">{{cite web |title=Mardi Gras – Mobile's Paradoxical Party |work=The Wisdom of Chief Slacabamorinico |url=http://jacksonsnyder.com/arc/slac/MardiGras/paradox.htm |access-date=November 18, 2007 |archive-date=December 9, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071209063304/http://jacksonsnyder.com/arc/slac/MardiGras/paradox.htm |url-status=dead}}</ref>

In Mobile, locals often use the term Mardi Gras as a shorthand to refer to the entire Carnival season. During the Carnival season; the [[Mystic society|mystic societies]] build colorful floats and parade throughout downtown. Masked society members toss small gifts, known as 'throws,' to parade spectators.<ref>{{cite news |first=Susan |last=Houston |title=Mobile; It Has History |work=The News & Observer |date=February 4, 2007}}</ref> The mystic societies, which in essence are exclusive private clubs, also hold formal [[masquerade ball]]s, usually by invitation only, and oriented to adults.<ref name="carnivalterminology"/>

Carnival was first celebrated in Mobile in 1703 when colonial French Catholic settlers carried out their traditional celebration at the [[Old Mobile Site]], prior to the 1711 relocation of the city to the current site.<ref name="MMtime"/> Mobile's first Carnival society was established in 1711 with the ''Boeuf Gras Society'' (Fatted Ox Society).<ref name="CarnHist1">{{cite web |title=History |work=Mobile Carnival Museum |url=http://www.mobilecarnivalmuseum.com/History.aspx |access-date=November 17, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071010041322/http://www.mobilecarnivalmuseum.com/History.aspx |archive-date=October 10, 2007}}</ref>

[[File:Mobile Mardi Gras 2010 48.jpg|thumb|Knights of Revelry parade on Royal Street in 2010]]
In 1830 Mobile's Cowbellion de Rakin Society was the first formally organized and masked mystic society in the United States to celebrate with a parade.<ref name="MMtime"/><ref name="slacabamorinico"/> The Cowbellions got their start when Michael Krafft, a cotton factor from [[Pennsylvania]], began a parade with rakes, hoes, and cowbells.<ref name="slacabamorinico"/> The ''Cowbellians'' introduced horse-drawn floats to the parades in 1840 with a parade entitled "Heathen Gods and Goddesses".<ref name="CarnHist1"/> The [[Striker's Independent Society]], formed in 1843, is the oldest surviving mystic society in the United States.<ref name="CarnHist1"/>

Carnival celebrations in Mobile were canceled during the [[American Civil War]]. In 1866 [[Joe Cain]] revived the Mardi Gras parades when he paraded through the city streets on Fat Tuesday while costumed as a fictional [[Chickasaw]] chief named ''Slacabamorinico.'' He celebrated the day in front of the occupying [[Union Army]] troops.<ref name="JChist">{{Cite web|url=http://cainsmerrywidows.org/articles.html|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929135247/http://cainsmerrywidows.org/articles.html|url-status=dead|title=Joe Danborn & Cammie East, "Joe Cain Articles", ''Mobile Register'', 2001|archive-date=September 29, 2007|access-date=March 4, 2022}}</ref> In 2002, Mobile's [[Tricentennial]] celebrated with parades that represented all of the city's mystic societies.<ref name="CarnHist1"/>

Founded in 2004, the Conde Explorers in 2005 were the first integrated Mardi Gras society to parade in downtown Mobile.  The society has about a hundred members and welcomes men and women of all races.  In addition to the parade and ball, the Conde Explorers hold several parties throughout the year. Its members also perform volunteer work. The Conde Explorers were featured in the award-winning documentary, ''The Order of Myths'' (2008), by [[Margaret Brown (film director)|Margaret Brown]] about Mobile's Mardi Gras.<ref name="PBS">{{cite web |title=Independent Lens: The Order of Myths |url=https://www.pbs.org/independentlens/orderofmyths/ |date=January 26, 2009 |work=Independent Television Service (ITVS) |access-date=July 29, 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://condeexplorers.org/|title=Conde Explorers|website=Condeexplorers.org|access-date=April 15, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150204232700/http://condeexplorers.org/|archive-date=February 4, 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref>