Posted on 03/04/2025 6:59:32 AM PST by Red Badger
FAT TUESDAY
The last day of Carnival and the day before Ash Wednesday, Fat Tuesday is the intertwining of a period of festivals and feasts that lead to a time of fasting and reflection. Also known as Shrove Tuesday and Mardi Gras, this enduring celebration has many traditions and deep roots around the world.
#FatTuesday
Mardi Gras (French for Fat Tuesday) dates back to an ancient Roman festival honoring the deities Lupercalia and Saturnalia which took place in mid-February. When Christians arrived in Rome, they incorporated the festival into Lenten preparations.
For centuries, this solemn feast prepared Christians for the season of Lent and used up valuable meat and supplies they would be abstaining from in the days to come. Traditions surrounding the day have changed through the ages. Through time and culture, the practices of Lent and Carnival, Mardi Gras, and Shrove Tuesday have varied and become incorporated into regional customs.
In the United Kingdom, Shrove Tuesday is also known as Pancake Day. Pancakes are the perfect menu item when the future includes abstaining from fats, eggs, and sweets! In Russia, they celebrate the entire week during Shrovetide as Pancake Week.
Carnival & Mardi Gras
While the French didn't originate the medieval feast, they did put their stamp on it. From parades to beignets and colorful masks, the last day of Carnival is full of elaborate costumes and lavish food sure to hold the revelers over through a long fast. During the 16th century, their ancestors celebrated Boeuf Gras (fatted calf), which included parading a bull decorated with flowers through the city. The decorated animal is followed through the streets by a retinue of colorfully dressed attendants and bands playing unusual instruments. There was even a Boeuf Gras Society in Mobile, Alabama, at one time. (See history below for more information.)
New Orleans holds the crown for Carnival and Mardi Gras celebrations in the United States. While the city is filled with French flavor and style, its culture is an eclectic infusion of many cultures. Colorful King Cake and thick, savory muffuletta sandwiches only suggest the indulgence possible on Fat Tuesday. Regional specialties like Etouffee, Po'boys, and jambalaya all add to the atmosphere of the day.
And while we satisfy our cravings, let's not forget our beverages. Signature creations from New Orleans hit the spot. Be sure to try the Sazerac made with absinthe or the citrus cocktail Arnaud's Special. For a smooth drink with some punch mix up a Vieux Carré made with whiskey, cognac, and sweet vermouth. But you don't have to have a cocktail to enjoy the feast! Fat Tuesday has plenty of beverages full of refreshing flavor. Coffees, sodas, and shakes of every flavor can be found.
HOW TO OBSERVE FAT TUESDAY
Join in festivals around the country.
Have your own Fat Tuesday feast!
Listen to some jazz or brass band music.
Share your favorite traditions by using #FatTuesday, #MardiGras, #ShroveTuesday
FAT TUESDAY HISTORY
The roots of the celebration have been woven together for centuries from medieval spring festivals and feasts that were based on the Christian calendar. Fat Tuesday is celebrated around the world in its various forms all of which harken back to these roots of spring festivals and religious fasting in preparation for the Holy day of Easter.
Credit for bringing Mardi Gras to America goes to French explorers Pierre Le Moyne Sieur d'Iberville and Jean Baptiste Le Moyne Sieur de Bienville. In 1699, d'Iberville reached the mouth of the river on Shrove Tuesday near what is now Louisiana and named it Pointe du Mardi Gras.
Thanks to their establishment of Fort Louis de la Mobile, modern-day Mobile, Alabama lays claim to the first Mardi Gras celebration on American soil in 1703.
When de Bienville established Nouvelle Orleans in 1788, Mardi Gras celebrations reportedly began immediately. In 1875, Louisiana declared Fat Tuesday an official holiday.
Fat Tuesday FAQ
Q. Why do people wear masks for Mardi Gras?
A. The masks add a bit of mystery to the occasion but in the early days of Carnival, the masks allowed classes to mingle without fear of tarnishing their reputation.
Q. What is a King cake?
A. King cake can be served from the last day of Epiphany (January 6) to the day before Ash Wednesday (Fat Tuesday). A small toy baby is baked into the coffee cake-like pastry. It is decorated with yellow, purple and green frosting. The cake may also be filled with fruits, pastry cream, or cream cheese. Whoever gets the slice with the baby gets to bake the cake for the next Mardi Gras.
Notable Birthdays for March 4
Isaac Lea (1792-1886) - Geologist who studied fossilized footprints.
John Buford (1826-1863) - Calvary officer and later became a Brigadier General for the Union.
Theodore Judah (1826-1863) - Founder of the Central Pacific Railroad.
David W. Taylor (1864-1940) - Engineer who constructed the first experimental towing tank in the U.S.
Lois Wilson (1891-1988) - Co-founder of Al-Anon.
Charles Herbert Colvin (1893-1985) - Co-founder of the Pioneer Instrument Co.
William C. Boyd (1903-1983) - Immunologist and chemist who made the first worldwide survey of the distribution of blood types.
Malcolm Dole (1903-1990) - Creator of the Dole Effect, which proves the atomic weight of oxygen in air is greater than that of oxygen in water.
John Scarne (1903-1985) - Magician who was an expert in card tricks.
Buck Baker (1919-2002) - Race car driver whose NASCAR career spanned over 30 years.
Richard DeVos (1926-2018) - Co-founder of Amway.
Robert Shaye (1939-Still Living) - Founder of New Line Cinema.
Drew Houston (1983-Still Living) - Co-founder of Dropbox.
Memorable Birthdays for March 4
1789 - The first Congress meets to put the Constitution into effect.
1791 - Vermont becomes the 14th state to join the Union.
1801 - Thomas Jefferson becomes the first President to be inaugurated in Washington, D.C.
1809 - James Madison becomes first President to be inaugurated in American-made clothes.
1841 - President Harrison delivers the longest Presidential Inauguration Speech with 8,443 words.
1901 - President McKinley is inaugurated as President for the second time.
1913 - The Congress forms the Department of Labor.
1913 - The first law regulating the shooting of migratory birds is passed.
1929 - Republican Charles Curtis becomes the first Native American to be VP of the U.S.
1933 - Franklin D. Roosevelt becomes the 32nd President.
1944 - The U.S. conducts their first bombing of Berlin.
1985 - The Food and Drug Administration approves a blood test for HIV infection.
For me, I’m Fat Every Day, not just Tuesday!.................
Really?
You couldn’t write anything else but the ONE LINE I was gonna write?
That’s like the third time this week someone took my thunder.
Forwarding complaint to moderator..
😁................................
They sure had long names back then.
Fat Tuesday, the day for cats to get all their sinning in before lent. Gotta get that debauchery out of the way before lent. Good ol forgiveness, might as well ask for as much as you can since it’s free.
Our ancestors usually included the town or village of their birth as their name....................
lol
I think if you know you are gonna ask forgivness later on, then it doesn’t really help.
But that’s a question for SAVE FERRIS or someone else who knows The Bigle like I know The Godfather :)
I’ll be eating too much and awfully today.
But not because it’s Fat Tuesday. :)
You’re a twisted man!!
:)
I’ll beat everyone to the punch one day.
A man’s gott have a goal :)
King Cake is my favorite part of all of this - I always eat it very carefully - don’t want to break a tooth on the hidden baby.
We eat and drink a little. Some debauchery.
“There was even a Boeuf Gras Society in Mobile, Alabama, at one time.”
Mardi Gras started in Mobile.
Slight correction:
Mardi Gras, as we know it today, started in Mobile................
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