Merry Widows of Joe Cain
Encyclopedia
Mardi Gras
The terms "Mardi Gras" , "Mardi Gras season", and "Carnival season", in English, refer to events of the Carnival celebrations, beginning on or after Epiphany and culminating on the day before Ash Wednesday...
mystic society of Cain’s Merry Widows (a women’s mystic society
Mystic society
A mystic society is a Carnival social organization, similar to a krewe in New Orleans, that presents parades and/or balls for the enjoyment of its members, guests, and the public. The term came to be used in this context in Mobile, Alabama. Mystic society membership is secret. The societies have...
) was founded in 1974 in Mobile, Alabama
Mobile, Alabama
Mobile is the third most populous city in the Southern US state of Alabama and is the county seat of Mobile County. It is located on the Mobile River and the central Gulf Coast of the United States. The population within the city limits was 195,111 during the 2010 census. It is the largest...
, home of the first Mardi Gras in America (1703).
Each Mardi Gras, on Joe Cain Day
Joe Cain
]Joseph Stillwell Cain, Jr. is largely credited with the rebirth of Mardi Gras celebrations in Mobile, Alabama, stopped due to the Civil War....
(the Sunday before Fat Tuesday), members of this society dress in funereal black with veils, lay a wreath at Cain’s burial site at Church Street Cemetery, wailing over their "departed husband's" grave, then traveling to Joe Cain’s house on Augusta Street to offer a toast and eulogy to their "Beloved Joe".
The Huntsville
Huntsville, Alabama
Huntsville is a city located primarily in Madison County in the central part of the far northern region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Huntsville is the county seat of Madison County. The city extends west into neighboring Limestone County. Huntsville's population was 180,105 as of the 2010 Census....
-based band, The Pine Hill Haints
The Pine Hill Haints
The Pine Hill Haints are a traditional bluegrass/folk/honky tonk/country band from Alabama, though the band members themselves describe their unique southern roots music as “Alabama Ghost Music.”...
, perform a song titled "The Merry Widows of Joe Cain" which, in its lyrics, pays homage to Joe Cain
Joe Cain
]Joseph Stillwell Cain, Jr. is largely credited with the rebirth of Mardi Gras celebrations in Mobile, Alabama, stopped due to the Civil War....
, Mardi Gras
Mardi Gras
The terms "Mardi Gras" , "Mardi Gras season", and "Carnival season", in English, refer to events of the Carnival celebrations, beginning on or after Epiphany and culminating on the day before Ash Wednesday...
tradition, and the city of Mobile itself. The band also makes it a yearly tradition to perform in Mobile each Joe Cain Day.