Hey Julia,
There are two “solemn” feast days, Ash Wednesday and All Saints Day. Both, however, are celebrated on the day before as big party days, Mardi Gras and Halloween respectively. Is that a coincidence?
– Ralph Phargas, St. Gabriel, La.
Interesting question Ralph. The two spiritual days are both Catholic creations — although one has a distinctly New Orleans spin. Ash Wednesday is the first day of Lent which is the church’s 40 days of sacrifice leading to Easter. All Saints (Nov. 1) is a way of remembering the heaven-sent deceased.
Some cultures, such as the Celtics in Ireland (not the basketball team from Boston) believed that on the evening after All-Saints Day the spirits of the deceased would rise and romp through the region. They also regarded the end of October as being the beginning of the dark days of winter — which fits in perfectly with ghostly galivants and, eventually, jack-o-lanterns lighting the way.
The idea would be embraced by the living, including in Mexico, Spain and their American counterparts which celebrate the “Day of the Dead.” Festivities would also evolve into kids, and increasingly, adults, wearing horror-themed costumes and partying.
New Orleans, because of its Mardi Gras heritage, tends to do the costuming and parading better than most places. Poydras says he worries that with new events, such as the Krewe of BOO, Halloween is become more of a mini-Mardi Gras with little attention paid to the ghosts on the Celtic fields.
Carnival evolved from the idea of having a last day of celebration (hence “Fat” Tuesday) before a season of feasting. In New Orleans we have the best of both worlds — excelling in the feasting and downplaying the fasting — unless a crawfish boil is regarded as penance.
Hey Julia,
We know about sheriffs operating jails, but I have heard that New Orleans once had a sheriff who operated a haunted house. Is that true?
– Ferd Simpson, Opelousas
Sure, doesn’t every city have that? At one time the sheriff’s office in Orleans Parish was separated into two positions: the criminal sheriff and the civil sheriff. (Note that did not necessarily imply that the holder of the first office was a criminal.) The civil sheriff handled the boring stuff like tax collections and record keeping. The criminal sheriff operated the jail, which, believe me was more tense than boring.
From 1974 to 2004 the criminal sheriff was Charles Foti who was known for being tough on crime. But, rather than just having the convicted sit in jail all day he created civic projects that had public appeal and gave the inmates a project. Murals, for example, were created around town. For one Northshore community, the public buildings were even painted by volunteer inmates who were bussed in each day.
Then there was an old abandoned swimming pool in City Park which, as it aged, had also served as a miniature golf course and then a sea lion pool which would also house rhesus monkeys. Neither of those attractions lasted, but Foti had an idea. During Halloween season he and his “staff” converted the old building, which looked rundown on its own, into a haunted house attraction. For many years the facility drew large crowds. There was also a hayride consisting of a wagon that was pulled by a truck throughout the area. Along the route programmed goblins and such would pop out to scare the hay out of the riders. There would be lots of screaming and yelling. Poydras, who once lived in a palm tree nest condo near what were then the tennis court, recalls players losing serves because of being distracted by sudden screams.
For many years the sheriff’s haunted house was Halloween’s biggest local event. Foti eventually moved on and served one term as the state’s attorney general. Without him the haunted house lost its pulse. Now its former site is a green patch of land along the Marconi Drive side of the park close to Tad Gormley stadium. A field of wildflowers grows near the site and, like the old house, attracts visitors like bees to honey. One major difference, now it is the flowers, and not the gremlins, who are wild.
Send us your questions! Poydras is looking for something to do. Send your questions to julia@myneworleans.com and be sure to include your name. For the subject line use: Julia and Poydras Question.
