Cowbellion de Rakin Society initiation ceremony script

Mobile, Alabama, is home to the oldest annual Mardi Gras celebrations in the United States. The earliest celebrations in Mobile were held by French explorers and settlers in 1699 and 1703.

The parades that became a Mardi Gras tradition originally began as New Year's Eve celebrations. In 1830, Michael Krafft and a group of revelers paraded through the streets of the city, carrying cowbells and rakes. This celebration marked the foundation of the Cowbellion de Rakin Society, thought to be one of the nation's first carnival societies. The society continued their annual parades and by 1837, the group was throwing small gifts to the crowds. In 1840, the first themed parade was held and horse-drawn floats were introduced. Men who were unable to join the exclusive Cowbellions began founding new societies. The Strikers Independent Society was founded in 1843, followed by the Tea Drinker's Society in 1850.

In 1850, Cowbellion Joseph Ellison moved to New Orleans, Louisiana, and was instrumental in forming The Mystic Krewe of Comus there.

With the foundation of the Order of Myths in Mobile in 1867, a split between Mardi Gras societies and the earlier new year's revelers occurred. In 1888, the Cowbellions discontinued the New Year's Eve parade, while the Mardi Gras celebrations continued.

Sources: Museum of Mobile website, Carnival/Mobile Mardi Gras Timeline; "Mobile's Mardi Gras," Encyclopedia of Alabama