A satirical weekly article highlighting humorous moments in Midwestern history
By Silas P. Whitmore, St. Louis, Missouri, October, 10 1881
In the annals of St. Louis’s storied past, few events have matched the sheer absurdity of the 1881 Veiled Prophet Parade, wherein the city’s genteel aspirations collided headlong with its more mischievous inclinations.
The Veiled Prophet Parade, that annual spectacle of opulence and mystery, had always been a magnet for the city’s elite, eager to outshine one another in displays of grandeur. Yet, in 1881, it wasn’t the lavish floats or the masked dignitaries that seized the public’s imagination, but rather a motley assembly of local rapscallions, henceforth known as the “St. Louis Mud Slingers.”
As the procession meandered through the cobblestone streets, resplendent with electric lights—a modern marvel intended to illuminate the city’s sophistication—a “gang of roughs” took it upon themselves to introduce an earthy element to the festivities. Armed with an arsenal of mud and stones, these impish fellows launched their earthen projectiles at the passing floats, transforming symbols of refinement into canvases of grime. One account notes that “several young ladies in the windows of 1630 Pine,” whose coquettish waves attracted the attention of men on one of the floats, “received quite a pelting at their hands with pebbles and other missiles.”
The city’s constabulary, bedecked in their finest uniforms, found themselves in a Sisyphean endeavor, chasing the elusive Mud Slingers through alleyways and over fences, their polished boots ill-suited for the muddy terrain. Meanwhile, the parade participants, striving to maintain an air of dignity, could scarcely conceal their vexation as their elaborate costumes bore the brunt of the onslaught.
In the aftermath, the Veiled Prophet Parade of 1881 was immortalized not for its intended display of civic pride, but for the unanticipated mud-slinging merriment. The Mud Slingers’ antics served as a reminder that, beneath the veneer of sophistication, St. Louis’s spirit was as untamed as the mighty Mississippi itself.
Thus, the 1881 parade stands as a testament to the city’s enduring capacity for spontaneous revelry, where even the most carefully orchestrated events are subject to the whims of its spirited citizenry.