Object of the Day: The Veiled Prophet Ball Ticket of Admission, 1904

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Here’s a little bit of historical weirdness. This extremely rare, unused ticket of admission was included in a lot of ephemera which I recently purchased. Immediately, we can see that it was a nontransferable ticket to a Chamber of Commerce dance which was held on Tuesday, October 4, 1904. The ticket was meant to be used by Mr. Louis Tornure (I think). If he attended the dance, he didn’t have his ticket torn.

But, there’s more to it than just that. This wasn’t just any dance. How do we know? Let’s look at the image on the front of the card. Who is this fellow between two irises? With his crown and diaphanous veil, he’s “The Veiled Prophet.” And, therefore, this was a ticket to the celebrated Veiled Prophet Ball in St. Louis Missouri, 1904. Neat.

The Veiled Prophet Organization, a secret society, was founded in 1878 in St. Louis. The founders of the society yearned to re-establish St. Louis as an agricultural and mechanical center and looked, as a model, to the antebellum fairs which were held annually to celebrate civic pride. Their aim was to create a grand-scale fair akin to those held before the Civil War which also emulated the spirit of Mardi Gras. Another aim of the Veiled Prophet Fair (now simply called the St. Louis Fair) was to create a new social hierarchy. The event culminated in the annual Veiled Prophet Ball wherein an important member of society was elected to portray the Veiled Prophet and a local beauty was crowned “The Queen of Love and Beauty.”

To find any memorabilia of one of these Veiled Prophet Balls is quite unusual, but to find a ticket—especially one that was not torn—is quite extraordinary indeed.