
Boing Boing Video presents a special episode featuring rare and historic film from Mardi Gras in New Orleans, Louisiana, from 1956. Artist Mar Dore stumbled on a box of slides in her family's home in Texas and inside, discovered photographs that her father took of the parades in the era of "Mad Men." That box, like a time capsule she says, opened a door into history. "The photos in this documentary were taken by my Father, John Woodward Mizenko. The photos were taken on February 12th and on Mardi Gras Day, February 14th, 1956, on the Mid-City route and on Canal Street in front of Miller-Wohls Department Store, which is no longer there. My father was born in the small town of Covington, Louisiana in 1921. He was a chemical engineer, inventor and builder. He worked for major oil companies and we had to move around a lot. The film was shot close to where my father was taking photos. I keep looking for his face in the crowds. He discovered that he had lymphoma cancer in 1990. His work had exposed him to toxic chemicals for decades, chemicals that caused cancer. It claimed his life in 1991. These photographs celebrate his memory, and even though Ive not yet found his face in those crowds, the photographs themselves illustrate the joy he took in capturing the spirit of Mardi Gras and its wonderful celebration of life." View a gallery of these photos here: www.galleriamardore.com And more about the photographer here: www.galleriamardore.com And scans of the original hand-drawn <b>...</b>
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