Introducing the Twitter frog

By Tulane University Louisiana Research Collection (LaRC) -

For those of you who follow our Twitter account, you may have wondered about this symbol we use.

The frog is an image from the Mystick Krewe of Comus' 1873 "Missing Links" parade costume designs. The Missing Links parade was an important event in New Orleans' Mardi Gras history, becoming one of the first major instances of the use of satire and political commentary in a krewe parade. The "Missing Links" referred to the work of Charles Darwin, and the parade not only sent up the theory of evolution, but other topics of the day including Reconstruction.

Tulane's Louisiana Research Collection has a complete set of the Missing Links costume designs. They are an important part of preserving the history of Carnival in New Orleans. We are currently making high quality digital copies of the designs, and plan to put together a digital collection of them later this year.

(Image from Mystick Krewe of Comus' 1873 Missing Links Parade Costume Designs, Collection 900, Louisiana Research Collection, Tulane University Libraries. Image may not be reproduced without permission.)

Posted by Eira Tansey.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

MLK weekend

By -
Image
The Schiro Reading Room will be closed Saturday, January 18-Monday, January 20, 2014, in honor of the Martin Luther King, Jr., Holiday. For weekend hours of the main Howard-Tilton Memorial Library building, see Library News @ Tulane . The Reading Room resumes current daily hours on Tuesday, January 21.
Read more

LaRC on WWL TV

By -
Image
LaRC on WWL TV Selections from LaRC's carnival collection are on display at NOMA and were featured last night on WWL TV. http://www.wwltv.com/mobile/article/entertainment/events/mardi-gras/noma-exhibit-highlights-pioneering-carnival-artist/289-515444234 You can learn more about the exhibit at NOMA here. If you're looking for something very special to do, it's a wonderful way to celebrate the Carnival season. http://www.blouinartinfo.com/news/story/2736844/bror-anders-wikstrom-bringing-fantasy-to-carnival-at-noma
Read more

Costume designs for Carnival royalty

By -
Image
Olga Peters was a twentieth-century New Orleans artist and teacher, whose interests included ballet, choreography, ceramics, metalwork, and fashion design.   She was educated at Newcomb College and Tulane University, through a Master of Arts in 1940. In 1983, she donated her numerous and imaginative costume design drawings and paintings to Tulane University, specifically those created for the krewes of Dorians, Bards of Bohemia, and Babylon.    LaRC Manuscripts Collection 684, Olga Peters Drawings , 1927-1976, also includes typed correspondence, Carnival and social ephemera, and several   black and white photographs of the fanciful costumes being worn by the local royalty for whom they were custom-made.    Another similar contemporary collection is Coralie Guarino Davis Costume Designs , 1953-1981 (LaRC Manuscripts Collection 723).   Featured there are drawings for krewes in New Orleans (Maids of Troy, Ancient Scribes), New Iberia (Andalusia)...
Read more