Veiled Prophet Ball

The Veiled Prophet Parade and Ball was a yearly civic celebration in St. Louis, Missouri, over which a mythical figure called the ''Veiled Prophet'' presided. The first events were in 1878.

Overview

The parade and ball were organized and funded by the Veiled Prophet Organization, an all-male, secret society founded in 1878 by prominent St. Louisans.

The organization chooses one member to be a ''Veiled Prophet'' who conducts meetings and oversees activities but not necessarily for one year, spokesman Allyn Glaub said in 1991. They were a highly select group culled from the area's business, civic and governmental leaders, "the people who run St. Louis and St. Louis County." At that time the organization was racially mixed.

Historian Thomas Spencer believes that the event generally revealed rather than soothed class conflicts.Spencer, pp. 45–46 Spencer wrote that the VP parade was created in part to displace the parades regularly held by the trade unions. Spencer believed it cast workingmen in a passive rather than active role, not merely in the celebration, but in the mythology asserted for the history and economic life of the city. Occasionally the unions would stage events intended to mock the pretensions of the VP Ball. The leading socialist and working-class newspaper, ''St. Louis Labor'', "wrote negatively" about the VP event and its organizers between the early 1900s and 1930.

The ball, which most recently took place on the Friday before Christmas each year, was attended by thousands, but was protested by Black Lives Matter supporters, as well as the St. Louis-based group Missourians Organized for Reform and Empowerment, which linked St. Louis's wealthiest one percent to the VP organization.

In 1995, the name of the riverfront celebration was changed to '' Fair Saint Louis'', though the street procession was still called ''Veiled Prophet Parade''. The date was fixed for Independence Day. It continued to be funded by the Veiled Prophet Organization.

In 2003, the organization created a Community Service Initiative, through which members participate in a wide variety of projects in and around the city of St. Louis. In 2016, it secured a trademark for the name America's Birthday Parade.Valerie Schremp Hahn, "VP Parade Known as 'America's Birthday Parade' in More Homes Nationwide," ''St. Louis Post-Dispatch,'' June 29, 2017
/ref> In 2021, The "Veiled Prophet Parade" was replaced by the "American Birthday Parade" as to assuage concerns that the pageant was "a symbol of wealth, power, and to some racism."

Integration timeline

1930s-1940s

Before World War II, the African-American community in St. Louis crowned its own "Veiled Prophet Queen," who included Ernestine Steele in 1939 and Blanche Vashon (later Sinkler), Georgia Williams, and Evelyn Hilliard. A 1940 newspaper column said that for years the official VP Parade had drawn

many persons, white and colored, to the city . . . nd thatYears ago there was a dance for the colored citizenry on that night, but that affair was long discontinued. Five years ago, Mrs. Zenobia Shoulders Johnson, one of the city's most active church and civic workers, conceived the idea of a style show which would culminate in the crowning of the "Veiled Prophet's Queen," someone representative of real St. Louis culture and society, much in the same manner of the original event. The idea caught fire, and from the first night, overflow crowds have witnessed the event at St. James A.M.E._.html" ;"title="African Methodist Episcopal Church">A.M.E. ">African Methodist Episcopal Church">A.M.E. Church. And, in addition, the idea became so popular that this year there are fully half a dozen similar projects as conceived by Mrs. Johnson being held this week by various other racial groups."Covering St. Louis," ''The Pittsburgh Courier,'' October 12, 1940, image 23
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Postwar opposition

Walter W. Witte, rector of St. Stephen's Episcopal Church, set forth the first widely circulated postwar opposition to the VP ball in a letter printed in the ''Post-Dispatch'' on September 30, 1966. He wrote:

. . . I recall my fascination some 10 years ago when I was told that St. Louis had a Veiled Prophet Parade. I was new to the city then and I presumed that this gala event must be some climactic community celebration, perhaps historical in nature. Then to discover that this was the yearly feast of the rich, culminating in a "coming out" ball at the municipal auditorium . . . was indeed a disappointment. Since then disappointment has given place to disgust. The spectacle of the wealthy daring to parade through the neighborhoods or near neighborhoods of the poor is outrageous.

And the ritual. Is it merely "cute," or are we witnessing the honest to God cult of the affluent with its prophets, queens, attending angels, heavenly courts taken seriously and paid for dearly by the educated business and professional men of the community? . . . .

Could it be turned into a genuine community event? I have an idea. If the powers would contact me, I have several outstandingly beautiful candidates in my parish for the Queen of Love and Beauty. Mind you, these candidates are not Mary Institute graduates nor are they currently attending Wellesley, Smith, or Vassar, nor are they likely to be. But they would, indeed, add beauty. Then again they would probably be disqualified. They suffer from one serious limitation. They are black.

Protests mount

Protests against the VP Parade began in 1966 after police shot a black robbery suspect and Percy Green, head of the Action Council to Improve Opportunities for Negroes (ACTION) passed out leaflets urging that the annual VP parade be "stopped" in response to the killing, calling it "the personification of St. Louis racism and white supremacy."

The next year, ACTION scheduled a "City Dwellers Week" to coincide with Veiled Prophet activities. It was code named ''Target 84,'' a reference to the Prophet's 84th visit. The aim was to force an end to the VP, which William L. Matheus said was "a symbol of racial and economic oppression."

On September 30, 1967, ACTION sponsored a "Black Veiled Prophet Ball" in parody of the VP Ball, the latter which was said to be fostering "racial discrimination and segregation.""Black Veiled Prophet Crowns Queen at Ball," ''St. Louis Post-Dispatch,'' October 2, 1967, image 3
/ref> The group planned the selection of a Queen of Human Justice, who would be chosen according to the number of tickets sold on her behalf.

On October 1, 1967, a "small group of marchers," led by Patrick Dougherty, a St. Louis University professor, contended in the suburb of Clayton, Missouri, that the VP Ball and Parade were "offensive to the Negro community" and should be transformed into a children's event.

The next weekend, some fifty demonstrators were in a sidewalk protest across the street from the VP Ball in Kiel Auditorium. Leaders, who had no tickets, demanded entry to the hall, and on October 6 three of them were arrested on charges of disturbing the peace and failure to obey the commands of a police officer; they were released on bond. They were Precious Barnes, in regalia as the "Black Veiled Prophet," Esther Davis, who was the Queen of Human Justice, and Witte.Timothy Bleck, "Clergymen in Difference With Bishop Cadigan Are Committed to Struggle of Urban Poor," ''St. Louis Post-Dispatch,'' October 15, 1967, image 3
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Journalists said the newspeople were shoved and jostled by police and that some officers held hats and hands in front of cameras to prevent photos. Ron Gould, an 18-year-old seminary student, said he took a photo of a policeman beating a black woman, and another officer smashed his camera with a baton, then stepped on the exposed film. He later filed a complaint against the police department, which ruled he had no case. (Charges against Barnes, Davis, and Witte were dropped on January 23, 1968, because of insufficient evidence.)

The next day, Barbara Torrence, Ruth Poland, and Mary Ann Kerstetter were arrested for lying in the street in front of the Veiled Prophet Parade in protest of alleged racial discrimination. They were sentenced to thirty days in jail for resisting arrest but were placed on probation for a year.

In October 1967 Bishop George L. Cadigan asked Witte and William Matheus, St. Stephens Church curator, to resign their positions because of "misunderstandings about procedural matters and the seeming inability of Mr. Witte to relate to the program of the diocese." The activities of the two in demonstrations, particularly against the Veiled Prophet Ball, had "incurred the wrath of many Episcopal laymen," a newspaper report said.

Witte said he and Matheus regarded the annual VP ceremonies as symbols of social bigotry and economic discrimination. Cadigan responded that he "holds no brief for the Veiled Prophet Ball and Parade, and it may well be a serious affront to the nonaffluent members of the St. Louis community," but, he said, the two clergymen "vastly overrated" the VP's significance, devoting "great energy, but little skill, in attacking it."

Count Basie cancellation

In 1968, ACTION threatened to stage protests against musician Count Basie unless he canceled an agreement to play in the VP Parade, whose theme that year was "Music for Everyone." Basie agreed on September 25 to withdraw, "for personal reasons."

Changing parade route

In 1968, United Press International reported that "ACTION has staged demonstrations at the ball and parade in recent years to protest that the ball was for whites only and that the parade flaunted white wealth down a route that skirted Negro neighborhoods. The route of this year's parade has been shifted to avoid some of the poorer neighborhoods."

More arrests

Percy Green, William Brown, and William Mitchell were arrested on September 27, 1968, when they were denied entry to the ball. They ignored orders to stop marching directly in front of Kiel Auditorium. Sarah Jones and Barbara Jean Saper were arrested and fined after they chained themselves to one of the floats.

In 1969 Carl Jackson (that year's Black Veiled Prophet), Madame Carol (the Black VP queen), Lois Greer (Queen of Human Justice) and George Johnson were arrested after Jackson and Carol presented a slip of blue paper at the Kiel Auditorium door which they said was an invitation and refused to leave. Judge G. Johnson, Sharon Hall, and Rita Scott were arrested in 1970 when they tried to enter the VP Ball by presenting a written statement in lieu of tickets.

Percy Green, Melvin Carr, Florence Jarrett, Ralph Brown, and Gina Scott were arrested on December 22, 1971, on a charge of general peace disturbance when they attempted to enter Kiel Auditorium with no tickets.

Episcopal resolution

A convention of the Episcopal Diocese of Missouri in October 1969 adopted a resolution stating that "Actions of the Veiled Prophet Society are such to be a source of constant irritation to the black communities" in the diocese.

Unmasking the Prophet

On December 23, 1972, six women with tickets provided by debutantes and two of them, white women Gena Scott and Jane Sauer, walked together into Kiel Auditorium, with no problem. Then Charles Reed, that year's Black Veiled Prophet went to the entrance with Beverly Crosby and Florence Jarrett, presented the gatekeeper with three tickets and a statement demanding entrance. They were denied entry because they were not "dressed properly." Refusing to leave, they were arrested and taken to a police station.Gary Ronberg, "How They Unveiled the Prophet," ''St. Louis Post-Dispatch,'' December 31, 1972, image 54
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Sauer and Scott took balcony seats on opposite sides of the house. During the program, Sauer began dropping leaflets into the audience, then "threw the rest of the leaflets over the railing" as two men converged on her and began to pull her away.

Meanwhile, Scott was rappelling on a rope from a balcony when she tumbled hard to the floor, climbed to her feet, rushed to the stage, grabbed the crown and veil and yanked it from that year's VP. The ''Post-Dispatch'' reported that "the Veiled Prophet, whom everybody could see was bald, and very angry, struggled gallantly to restore the veil and its 95-year-old tradition f anonymityto its proper place." The VP was later to be revealed as Monsanto executive Tom K. Smith Jr."The Wednesday Inquirer," ''St. Louis Post-Dispatch,'' September 25, 1991, image 114
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Scott said: "The chairman of the VP committee, Alexander Cornwell Jr., had wanted to press charges, but when he was informed that the Veiled Prophet would have to appear in open court to do so, the whole matter was dropped." Scott's ribs were diagnosed as bruised and possibly broken.

Aftermath and changes

In early 1973, Gena Scott was awakened when her car was bombed outside of her apartment. Her apartment was vandalized numerous times.Spencer (2000), pp. 134–36
In 1975, ACTION member Patrick Dougherty unfurled a banner on stage reading "ACTION Protests Racist VP," and in 1976, two ACTION members sprayed what Green called "commercial tear gas"Spencer (2000), pp. 138–39 at VP audience members along the stage.

In November 1973, a class-action suit was filed on behalf of all black St. Louisans by Percy Green, George (Judge) Johnson and Melvin Carr, claiming the VP organization's rental agreement for Kiel was illegal and that blacks viewed the VP Committee as an "antiblack, semisecret organization made up of members of the economic, political and social white power structure" of St. Louis.

The parade was first telecast over station KSD in 1977.

In 1979 the Veiled Prophet Organization admitted its first black members, three physicians.

In 1987, fair officials and St. Louis Metro Police Department were confronted with accusations of racism when they closed the Eads Bridge to pedestrian access, which reduced the ability of attendees from East St. Louis to reach the VP fair, where predominantly black residents were blamed for the crime that had been occurring there. Judge John F. Nangle ordered the bridge to reopen, saying that there was no proof that the crime was caused by East St. Louisans.Spencer, 2000, p. 148.

Some thirty people protesting police shootings in Ferguson, Missouri, and elsewhere in 2014 marched and chanted outside the Hyatt Hotel, St. Louis, where the ball was taking place.

Founding of the Veiled Prophets

The VP organization was founded by prominent St. Louisans who had been invited to a meeting in a letter signed by John B. Maude, John A. Scudder, George Bain, John G. Priest, and D.P. Rowland."The Exposition Opening: Plans Under Consideration for an Imposing Pageant," ''St. Louis Times,'' March 22, 1878, cited in Spencer, page 173

The organization had its roots in the St. Louis Agricultural and Mechanical Fair, an annual harvest festival since 1856.
Featuring agricultural crops, crafts, and demonstrations, it attracted people from throughout the region. Spencer wrote that city boosters devised the Veiled Prophet Fair in an attempt to reclaim from the rapidly growing city of Chicago the fading pre-eminence for St. Louis as a manufacturing center and agricultural shipping point.

On March 20, 1878, Charles Slayback, a grain broker who had spent several Reconstruction years in New Orleans after the Civil War and become acquainted with its Mardi Gras traditions, called a meeting of local business leaders at the Lindell Hotel. He and his brother Alonzo, a former colonel with a Missouri Cavalry Regiment which fought for the Confederates, created a mythology for a secret elite society, whose public demonstrations would coincide with the annual St. Louis Agricultural and Mechanical Fair. Alonzo wrote ''The First Panorama of Progress of the Veiled Prophets.''Thomas Spencer, ''The St. Louis Veiled Prophet Celebration: Power on Parade,'' , page 9
The brothers borrowed the name "the Veiled Prophet of Khorassan" from Irish poet Thomas Moore's ''Lalla Rookh''; they also incorporated features from the Comus of New Orleans. In Moore's poem, the Veiled Prophet was a horribly disfigured man who considered himself a prophet.

The first visit of the Prophet was thus in 1878, after the Great Panic of 1875, when business needed reviving and St. Louis needed development.

In a 1956 promotional book by Vincent H. Sanders and Theodore D. Drury Jr., the Prophet was a world traveler who chose to bless St. Louis; reporter Walter E. Orthwein of the ''Globe-Democrat'' wrote in 1958 that the VP was conceived as "a kind of Santa Claus for grownups.""Initial Event Designed to Give St. Louis Fair a Big Shot in the Arm," ''St. Louis Globe-Democrat,'' October 7, 1958, image 35
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Secrecy

The VP organization has traditionally attempted to keep its membership rolls secret. In his ''Centennial History of Missouri,'' Walter B. Stevens wrote: "Mystery as to preparations greatly enhances public interest" and means "that the membership must be moved by altruistic motives in giving their fellow Missourians this annual pageant; that no public limelight could be focused on the doers."

The VP was sometimes referred to as the Grand Oracle, as in 1880. The identity of a given year's leader has ostensibly been a secret, but the earliest members of the Veiled Prophet organization (in 1878) were reported in 1964 to have included Alonzo W. Slayback, Frank Gaiennie, John A. Scudder, Henry C. Haarstick, George Bain, Robert P. Tansey, George H. Morgan, Wallace Delafield, John B. Maude, D. P. Rowland, Leigh I. Knapp, David B. Gould, Henry Paschell, H. I. Kent, E. Pretorious, William H. Thompson, and William A. Hargadine, H.B. Loudermann, and George D. Capen.Karin Hayward, "Veiled Prophet Tradition Began at Fair in 1878," ''St. Louis Post-Dispatch,'' February 16, 1964, image 306
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As for the leadership, public records showed in 2021 that "the executive officers remain some of the region's most powerful businessmen and dynastic patricians with surnames such as Schnucks (grocery stores), Desloge (lead mining), Maritz (employee incentives and corporate travel) and Kemper (banking)."Austin Huguelet, "Society," ''St. Louis Post Dispatch,'' June 13, 2201, page A5
/ref> The prophet crowned "a queen every year; their last names include Kemper, Busch, Danforth, Schnuck, Schlafly, Chouteau, Cabanne, Niedringhaus, Desloge and other historic St. Louis families.The identity of Maids of Honor, one of whom was tapped as Queen, was also kept secret until they were introduced at the Ball."

The only person ever identified in connection with the VP administration was Jane Lindemann, who in 1999 was the first woman to hold the post of "exec director."

First parade and ball

The first parade and ball were held on Tuesday, October 8, 1878. The Prophet was selected secretly from among the members, who were made up of St. Louis's business and civic elite. The first Prophet was John G. Priest, a member of the city's Board of Police Commissioners."John G. Priest Dead," ''St. Louis Post-Dispatch,'' July 4, 1900, image 12
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1878 parade

The Veiled Prophet was represented on the final float of the 1878 parade as:"Golden Glory: The Veiled Prophet," ''St. Louis Post-Dispatch,'' October 9, 1878, page 5, column 2
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a huge figure about twenty-five feet high, and looking like an overgrown cigar store sign, with a mosquito bar (mosquito netting) over its face. He was costumed in green and red, and was surrounded by members of his court. His scribe stood by with huge quill and a reservoir of ink at hand, ready to issue his mandates. Two high priests were behind his throne, and near by a villainous-looking executioner and a blood-curdling butcher's block. Fierce and warlike guards, with breastplates of brass and steel and helmets of the same metals, kept watchful eyes upon the sacred precincts of the Prophet.

In 1882 the ''Globe-Democrat'' described the same giant dummy as a "huge masked figure staring sphinx-like at the crowd." It had been used in previous parades until it was retired and replaced that year by a uman"being with face masked and a long, white beard."
On Sunday, October 6, the ''Missouri Republican'' had captioned a woodcut of a masked, armed, and hooded man posing in Ku Klux Klan garb ( previously used in the newspaper on August 23, 1875) as "the original Veiled Prophet himself," adding that "It will be readily observed from the accoutrements of the Prophet _pistol,_a_shotgun.html"_;"title="pistol.html"_;"title="_pistol">_pistol,_a_shotgun">pistol.html"_;"title="_pistol">_pistol,_a_shotgun,_and_a_billy_club.html" ;"title="pistol">_pistol,_a_shotgun.html" ;"title="pistol.html" ;"title=" pistol"> pistol, a shotgun">pistol.html" ;"title=" pistol"> pistol, a shotgun, and a billy club">pistol">_pistol,_a_shotgun.html" ;"title="pistol.html" ;"title=" pistol"> pistol, a shotgun">pistol.html" ;"title=" pistol"> pistol, a shotgun, and a billy club] that the procession is not likely to be stopped by street cars or anything else." Historian Thomas M. Spencer interpreted the ''Republicans reference to "street cars" as related to the Great Railroad Strike of 1877. "Newspaper feature stories since the 1950s have described the 'first Veiled Prophet parade' as a way of healing the wounds of a bitter labor-management fight," the 1877 St. Louis general strike, he wrote. He added, however, that the first Veiled Prophet parade was "more a show of power than a gesture of healing."'' (See note.)''

1878 ball

The initial ball in 1878 was held in the festively decorated Grand Hall of the Merchants Exchange, beginning in the late evening after the completion of the Parade. Its official start was a quadrille of costumed men from the floats of the parade and the women who awaited them. After two dances, the first being J.S. Bach's ''Royal Quadrille,'' the men retired to replace their disguises with formal wear for the rest of the evening."Decorations of the Grand Hall," ''St. Louis Globe-Democrat,'' October 9, 1878, image 6
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Suzanne (Susie) Slayback was chosen by the first Veiled Prophet, John G. Priest, to be the "belle" of the ball.

Prophet's arrival

Normally the Prophet was introduced to the public either as a real person or as a giant replication when his parade exited the "gloomy-visaged" Den, where the organization had its headquarters. But he also arrived via a different method, as follows:

Boat

For the first time, the Prophet came to St. Louis by boat on October 1, 1892, on the upriver steamer ''War Eagle.'' ''(See note.) A group of civic leaders sailed to Jefferson Barracks via the ''Republic'' and the ''Paul Tulane'' to greet him. The First Regiment marched from St. Louis, and then everybody went back to St. Louis in fifty carriages or marched there in a special afternoon parade through crowded streets; a reception was held at the Exposition Building."St. Louis Carnival," ''The Burlington (Kansas) Nonpareil'', September 30, 1892, page 1
/ref>"St. Louis Carnival," ''Cedar Vale (Kansas) Commercial,'' October 1, 1892, image 4
/ref>"The Veiled Prophet," ''The Thayer (Kansas) News,'' October 7, 1892, page 3
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"A wagonette drawn by four horses went down to the staging," the ''Post-Dispatch'' reported, "and the Prophet took his seat on a raised cushion so that he might be seen by the curious and admiring multitude which he was to pass." At the St. Louis wharf, Samuel Kennard, an organizer of the Saint Louis Exposition, presented the Prophet with the keys to the city, and a band played "Hail to the Chief.""His Majesty Here," ''St. Louis Post-Dispatch,'' October 2, 1892, image 16
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The VP arrived again via upriver boat ''Spread Eagle'' on October 1, 1900, at the foot of Vine Street, to be escorted to the Coliseum, where thousands had gathered.

Airplane

The Prophet arrived by airplane four times, from 1924 through 1927, followed by an informal parade to the Den.

Notable VP Ball incidents and activities

The Belles and the Queens of Love and Beauty

The custom of singling out a young woman for special attention began with the first Veiled Prophet Ball in 1878, when Suzanne (Susie) Slayback was chosen by the first Veiled Prophet, John G. Priest, to be the " belle" of the ball at the age of 16. According to a 1958 article in the ''St. Louis Globe-Democrat'', in those earlier times it was "the custom of the Prophet to select a girl for his partner in the first dance at the ball."Walter E. Orthwein, "Idea for VP Festival Came Out of Meeting in Old Lindell Hotel," ''St. Louis Globe-Democrat,'' October 7, 1958, image 34
/ref>"Belle of First Ball Tells How She Felt," ''St. Louis Globe-Democrat,''October 7, 1958, image 39
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In 1884 the title of this honoree was changed to ''Queen of Love and Beauty''. She was to "act as regent" between the Prophet's yearly visits and to "be in charge of the social life of the city.""Veiled Prophet Sends Edicts Announcing His Coming Oct. 7," ''The Republic,'' September 21, 1902, image 24
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In 2021 and 2022, two celebrities were denounced in social media for having been Veiled Prophet Queens when young.

* Some Twitter users called actress Ellie Kemper a "KKK princess" because in December 1999, she had been Queen of Love and Beauty at the VP Ball.Michael Ordoña, "Why Twitter Is Up in Arms About Ellie Kemper's 'racist' debutante crown from 1999," ''Los Angeles Times,'' June 1, 2021
/ref> She responded in a five-slide Instagram apology, beginning:Chloe Melas, "Ellie Kemper Apologizes for Participating in Controversial Pageant as a Teen," ''CNN Entertainment'', June 8, 2021
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Hi guys – when I was 19 years old, I decided to participate in a debutante ball in my hometown. The century-old organization that hosted the debutante ball had an unquestionably racist, sexist and elitist past. I was not aware of this history at the time, but ignorance is no excuse. I was old enough to have educated myself before getting involved.

* Trudy Busch Valentine, a Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate, apologized in early 2022 for having been the VP Queen in December 1977. She wrote: "I should have known better, and I deeply regret that my actions hurt others."

Maids and Ladies of Honor

The Veiled Prophet selected the Queen from among the young women who had been invited as candidates. Beginning in 1894, those not selected were retained as Maids of Honor. A number of married women were known as Ladies of Honor, to act as chaperones."Veiled Prophet's Parade: Chosen by the Prophet," ''St. Louis Daily Globe-Democrat,'' September 23, 1900, image 47, columns 5 and 6
z In that year, residents of the wealthy West End, St. Louis, were treated to the appearance of"Ladies of His Court," ''St. Louis Post-Dispatch,'' August 12, 1894, image 5
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an unusually elegant carriage, with coachmen and footmen in handsome livery, . . . driving through the prominent thoroughfares and delivering on a silver salver a highly illuminated and gorgeous invitation signed by the Grand Oracle of the Veiled Prophet, . . . appointments of the ladies as Maids of Honor. . . . These invitations have been delivered only to members of the inner circle of the St. Louis One Hundred and are regarded as the most unique and beautiful specimens of engraving and embossing ever seen in the city.

The custom by 1940 was that:

Escorted by members of the Prophet's secret order, the maids promenade the length of the Salle de Bal, pausing to curtsy before the box of the former queens as their names are announced, and then proceed to the
royal dais, where, for the duration of the ceremony, they occupy gold and white seats on either side of the Prophet's throne. After the coronation they make their obeisance to their new queen and later join in the general dancing . . . .

Invitations

By 1883, the ball had become known as ''"the'' social event of the year," with funding "poured out like water," the result in bringing visitors to St. Louis "more than" justifying the cost, the ''Post-Dispatch'' commented. People wanting to attend had to apply for tickets. The recipients were then chosen by a secret committee."The Veiled Prophets: Further News From Prophet-Land Concerning the Nocturnal Pageant, ''St. Louis Post-Dispatch,'' September 7, 1881, image 7
/ref> In 1881, nearly four thousand invitations to the Veiled Prophet Ball were issued, and in 1885 there were more than seven thousand, of which some six thousand were used."An Arabian Night," ''St. Louis Post-Dispatch,'' October 7, 1885, image 2, column 5
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The ''Post-Dispatch'' wrote in September 1887 that the "Grand Oracle of the Veiled Prophets began the distribution of his favors yesterday, and to-day the mails are burdened with big yellow packages. By 6 o'clock to-morrow evening several thousand people who have been waiting in anxious expectation . . . will have their suspense relieved while otherswill suffer a grievous disappointment at seeing the postman trot by their door without stopping."

The "handsome and artistic" invitations, matching a different theme for each year, looked like this:

1880. Theme: The Four Seasons.
On one side of the engraved bid was a picnic scene, surrounded by representations of spring, summer, autumn, and winter. On the other side were the initials ''V.P.'' and four additional scenes — summer in Germany, spring in England, autumn in France, and winter in Russia. To insure that the "strictly personal" invitations would not be transferred at the ball:

Four masked detectives will be present, . . . furnished with a list of all the invitations issued. At the door the admit cards will not be taken up, but a corner will be torn off, and at any time during the ball, if the detectives see any one that they suspicion does not belong there, the party will be required to give his or her name, and show their admit card.

As there was a "mash" vercrowdinglast year, only half the number of invitations will be issued to the coming ball. Of course, everybody wants an invitation, and the number of disappointed ones will be large. The committee, however affable and kind-hearted, cannot include everybody, and those who have had a finger in such matters will readily understand that the position is by no means an easy or enviable one.Hal, "St. Louis: Veiled Prophets," ''Marksville (Louisiana) Bulletin,'' October 2, 1880, image 3
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1881. Theme: A Day-Dream in the Woodland or Insect Life"Float No. 1," ''St. Louis Post-Dispatch,'' October 6, 1889, page 21
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Fifteen hundred tickets were printed in Paris, France, with "friends of the order" each able to reserve ten of them, and "a lady counts for as much as a gentleman in the list of names.""The Veiled Prophets: Preparations for the Grand Annual Nocturnal Pageant," ''St. Louis Post-Dispatch,'' September 1, 1881, image 8
/ref> The tickets were inside a coarse, outside enclosure, an imitation-leather second envelope and, finally, a peagreen envelope, the edge bordered in gold and the center bearing the face of the Veiled Prophet and the initials "V.P." Within it was yet another envelope, with a highly polished gold or silver paten, containing a pink or pale blue card, the former "for ladies" and the latter "for gentlemen." With them were dance cards for the women, "a huge butterfly which is placed in harp-shaped envelopes of transparent linen covered with figures of gold."

1885. Theme: An Arabian Night

The invitations for 1885 were in "what seems to be a strong metal box," which, when opened, revealed a satin bag bound with silk, which contained "the coveted bidding." Five scenes from the Arabian Nights were "successfully disclosed by the turning aside of a leaf hinged on a pivot, or the opening of a leaf book fashion. . . . Accompanying . . . were beautifully engraved admission cards to the ball, and the dancing programme."

1888. Theme: Child Lore

The six thousand invitations, again printed in Paris, included "a spectacular view of Mother Goose, on a blue ray-lit sky . . . . The goose is very white and the old woman on its back is very red. She carries a broom in her left hand and in right holds the reins of her feathered steed. There is a friendly grin on the old lady's face . . . .""The Prophet's Pageant," ''The Post-Dispatch,'' September 9, 1888, image 9
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Each invitation was inside a separate envelope, "even more gorgeous than its inclosure. Its . . . principal pictorial feature is a regulation fairy queen of the modern stage in a decollete bodice, transparent skirts and ravishing pink tights. A diadem adorns her flowing yellow hair and two rows of pearls shine upon her splendid throat. . . . She is seated on the backs of a pair of flame-tongued, red-tailed dragons, and the sky in the immediate vicinity is blazing with glory."

An enclosed ticket for the dance consisted, according to the same story, "of a "rabbit's foot growing out of a rabbit's head" '' ee accompanying image''

1902. From the Discovery of the Mississippi to the World's Fair

The invitation included "a map of the Louisiana Purchase, supported by the palm branch, with intertwined shields of the United States and the Republic of France, '' ee note' with the Veiled Prophet's seal," along with, "in colors," scenes and incidents in the Louisiana Purchase.

1904. Theme: Art and Architecture

Recipients had to open three boxes, one inside another, to reach the souvenir,

a tray of the new kaiserzin pewter_.html"_;"title="pewter.html"_;"title="pewter">pewter_">pewter.html"_;"title="pewter">pewter_ware,_so_popular_of_late_as_a_material_in_which_._._._may_be_wrought_all_the_artistic_effects_possible_in_silver._._._._It_is_useful_and_beautiful_either_upon_my_lady's_pewter_.html"_;"title="pewter.html"_;"title="pewter">pewter_">pewter.html"_;"title="pewter">pewter_ware,_so_popular_of_late_as_a_material_in_which_._._._may_be_wrought_all_the_artistic_effects_possible_in_silver._._._._It_is_useful_and_beautiful_either_upon_my_lady's_cosmetics">toilet_

A_toilet_is_a_piece_of_sanitary_hardware_that_collects_human_urine_and__feces,_and_sometimes_toilet_paper,_usually_for_disposal._Flush_toilets_use_water,_while__dry_or_non-flush_toilets_do_not._They_can_be_designed_for_a_sitting_position_popu_...
_table_or_upon_a_gentleman's_office_desk,_for_the_holding_of_trinkets_or_trifles._It_is_in_the_shape_of_a_large_pewter_.html"_;"title="pewter.html"_;"title="pewter">pewter_">pewter.html"_;"title="pewter">pewter_ware,_so_popular_of_late_as_a_material_in_which_._._._may_be_wrought_all_the_artistic_effects_possible_in_silver._._._._It_is_useful_and_beautiful_either_upon_my_lady's_cosmetics">toilet_

A_toilet_is_a_piece_of_sanitary_hardware_that_collects_human_urine_and__feces,_and_sometimes_toilet_paper,_usually_for_disposal._Flush_toilets_use_water,_while__dry_or_non-flush_toilets_do_not._They_can_be_designed_for_a_sitting_position_popu_...
_table_or_upon_a_gentleman's_office_desk,_for_the_holding_of_trinkets_or_trifles._It_is_in_the_shape_of_a_large_seashell">sea_shell_

A_seashell_or_sea_shell,_also_known_simply_as_a_shell,_is_a_hard,_protective_outer_layer_usually_created_by_an_animal_or_organism_that_lives_in_the_sea._The_shell_is_part_of_the_body_of_the_animal._Empty_seashells_are_often_found_washe_...