CMW
“Here lies old Joe Cain
The heart and soul of Mardi Gras in Mobile”
[Epitaph from Joe Cain's headstone ]
The Mardi Gras mystic society of Cain’s Merry Widows (a women’s mystic society) was founded in 1974 in Mobile, Alabama, home of the first Mardi Gras in America (1703). Each Mardi Gras, on Joe Cain Day (the Sunday before Fat Tuesday), members of this society dress in black mourning clothes with veils, lay a wreath at Cain’s burial site at Church Street Graveyard, wail over their "departed husband's" grave, then travel to Joe Cain’s former house on Augusta Street to offer a toast and eulogy to their "Beloved Joe"
Upcoming Events
7
FEB
2027
Joe Cain Day
All Day
Downtown Mobile, Al
The Widows will arrive and exit their bus at 11:25 am for their somber procession into the Graveyard. They will then honor their Dear Joe with the laying of wreaths and expressions of grief.
Church St. Graveyard
The Widows will arrive at the Joe Cain house at 906 Augusta St. in the Oakleigh Garden District at around 11:50 am to give a toast to our Dear Joe at our old home place, leaving around 12:30 pm.
Joe Cain House
The Widows will arrive at the Historic Malaga Inn on Church Street at around 12:40 pm to celebrate and take photos with our dear fellow revelers and lovers of Joe Cain.
