Mardi Gras in 1942 was a pretty bleak affair. Bombs raining on Pearl Harbor had forced a once-reluctant United States into World War II just months before. People had more serious things on their minds than the pranks and pageantry of Carnival.
Gov. Sam Jones said that he would not formally proclaim a Mardi Gras legal holiday, even though it was designated one in Louisiana. He said stateā¦