Thelma and Lowell's Diary: March 2, 1943

Thelma picks up the laundry; Mardi Gras is turned over to war fund-raising

Thelma’s only notations today were of paying 14 cents for laundry, rides for seven cents and eats for $1.89. But take heart! She comes back with a long entry tomorrow as her mother and father arrive in New Orleans and go sight-seeing!

New Orleans suspended its colorful and rambunctious Mardi Gras season during the war, but in 1943 it brought back some of the excitement with parades and events to raise money for the Red Cross and war bond sales. To read about it, you’ll need to be a paid subscriber. In honor of Women’s History Month, if you sign up for a year’s subscription ($50) in March, you’ll get a signed and personally inscribed hardback copy of my book Gertie: The Fabulous Life of Gertrude Sanford Sanford Legendre: Heiress, Explorer, Socialite, Spy.