The three soaring spires of St. Louis Cathedral pierce a warm apricot New Orleans sky above the manicured lawns of Jackson Square — the Place d'Armes where Louisiana passed from France to the United States — in this vivid white-border card postmarked February 17, 1926, just days before Mardi Gras would have filled this very square with revelers. Published by E.C. Kropp of Milwaukee, the card carries a charming back-text history of the square: the cathedral erected 1718, rebuilt 1720, the present building erected 1794. An anonymous writer, signing only with a looping "a," dashed off a note to Miss Agnes at 201 S. Galt Ave., Louisville, Kentucky: "Dear Agnes, We are in New Orleans today & tomorrow — Tuesday will be the big day here." That "big day" was almost certainly Mardi Gras itself, Fat Tuesday 1926 falling on February 16, making this a rare first-person Carnival witness card.