In 1979 the New Orleans police department went on strike, using the powerful leverage of Mardi Gras to push for an improvement in their working conditions. The city held fast and the celebration was cancelled. Ish. Some parades moved just out of town. Most tourists stayed away, fearful of unregulated reveling. But lots of locals went forward with the holiday, partying in the streets without the influx of tourists that accompany a typical Fat Tuesday.
The National Guard was called in to ensure a semblance of order, but they ignored vice, intervening only against violence. According to Wikipedia, many French Quarter locals decided it was the best Mardi Gras ever. Photographer Robbie McClaran was there. Here are some of his photographs of the day:
Of the last photo, McClaran writes: “I remember this scene like it was yesterday, it was the moment when I thought to myself Mardis Gras had reached a level of surreality I had never experienced before. Homeless woman dancing with a man in a tutu while Uncle Sam looks on and salutes.”
Le bon temps roule, everybody.
Lisa Wade, PhD is an Associate Professor at Tulane University. She is the author of American Hookup, a book about college sexual culture; a textbook about gender; and a forthcoming introductory text: Terrible Magnificent Sociology. You can follow her on Twitter and Instagram.
Comments 8
Bill R — March 2, 2014
A Mardi Gras without tourists? Where do I sign up?
Bagelsan — March 2, 2014
Yay, unprotected public sex all over my computer screen... -_-
Huey Harrison — February 9, 2021
Thank you for the article. I remember this pivotal event as a child.
Lars — October 31, 2021
I went to that Mardi Gras, on my way back to San Francisco from Cozumel. I stayed with friends in he French Quarter and went to a K.C. & the Sunshine Band concert at the Superdome, which was a bit tense because Doug Kershaw opened the show and attracted a completely different (and somewhat hostile) audience. On Mardi Gras day, there were orgies in the street on Bourbon Street, which was the wildest I had ever seen Mardi Gras.
Anonymous — March 3, 2022
There is nothing so strange in a strange place as the stranger who comes to visit. My impulses in 1979 were honest, and natural. I wanted a beer. I wanted a stone. I wanted a good laugh. I wanted to meet good people, and listen to that music, and have fun. I wanted to screw a pretty girl. I wanted to meet a foxy girl, and fall in love. I wanted to hump those mesmerizing, statuesque black hookers in thigh boots parading down Bourbon Street. I didn't want to go home, though many told me to. I just wanted what 16 year old boys want, but I shouldn't have wanted to go to the Mardi Gras. I should have been home, doing my algebra homework. I shouldn't have wanted to go to the Mardi Gras in 1979, but I did. I don't want to go to the Mardi Gras again.
Richard Lockwood — August 10, 2023
I was in the French quarter and Fauberg Marigny for four days and incredible nights without police, hassles or bummers. Vice was very nice, beyond the usual levels of 1981 and 1983. Revelry was unrestricted. In bars, on the streets, in full view of the National Guard. I was with great friends who had framed copies of the fantastic Dureau poster as gifts for us. A superb celebration, my favorite MG ever!