The mules of Mardi Gras pulled trash wagons by day, Carnival floats by night for nearly a century

The underappreciated role of mules in Carnival is finally being recognized. The animals were the subject this year of an online, paid subscription lecture as part of the Friends of the Cabildo Carnival history classes — called "A Garbage Mule Fit For A King: How Beasts of Burden Shaped Carnival." French Quarter buggy driver and historian Charlotte Jones detailed the important role the creatures played in Mardi Gras for nearly a century.

It is likely the Mistick Krewe of Comus used mules in their first, two-float parade when they debuted in 1857. Mules pulled streetcars from the Civil War until the 1890s. Before and after that, they pulled cotton wagons from Mississippi River wharves.

Contrary to the images on 19th century Carnival bulletins, which show horse-drawn floats, only on very rare occasions were horses used. For the most part, mule power propelled Mardi Gras floats.

A 1973 Dixie Roto feature explained, "The animals were cleaned and brushed and adorned with white caps and robes bearing the emblem of a crown, and hoofs painted a glittering gold."

The same publication reported that in 1929 the city owned 329 mules, "its all time high number in its stock."

Legendary Louisiana historian Charles "Pie" Dufour, writing in the States-Item in 1966, explained why mules worked so well. "The mule is patient and plodding, even docile," he said.

But Dufour also acknowledged that mules could be stubborn.

In the 20th century, mules pulled the city's garbage wagons during the day and then pulled floats at night. Each mule had a name and a personality, and mules almost always worked as a team.

Carnival parades in the old days were often late in taking to the streets because mules that worked all day sometimes refused to walk at night. A newspaper headline in 1948 reported "Mules Stage Sit Down Strike."

The proliferation of parades made the double-duty of the mules problematic. Then, in 1949, the New Orleans Sanitation Department started to become mechanized, and mules were phased out. In 1950, Rex announced the switch to the more reliable tractors, which provided a far smoother ride. All other krewes followed with the exception of the Krewe of Choctaw, whose parade was mule-drawn until 1953.

Today, purely for nostalgic reasons, Hermes and Babylon use mules to pull royalty floats. Mules also put in an appearance in the Krewe du Vieux and Le Krewe d'Etat parades.

And this year, for the first time since 1949, a mule will appear in the Rex parade, pulling a riderless signature float in the sesquicentennial procession.