Because Dorothy Turnbull was from New Orleans, her family was involved in the pre-Lenten tradition of Mardi Gras. Her father belonged to one of the city’s crewes.
I never was a debutante. They have certain of the crewes, the big old celebration, but certain of them are for the debutantes, the elite of the elite. They pay more, of course, they have the bigger parades. They have all of the atmosphere.
This is a photograph of one of the Mardi Gras celebrations Dorothy participated in, c. 1940. It comes from the collection of Dorothy Turnbull Stewart.
Hinges of History 