Mobile, Ala. ? From decorated trees and outrageous costumes to colorful parades and quaint traditions, it’s Mardi Gras time on the Gulf Coast. And while New Orleans’ celebration may be better known, Mobile’s claims to be older — as well as more family-oriented.

Historians say the carnival was born in the 1700s in Mobile among French colonists, but it didn’t really catch on until 1830, when a group of rowdies hit the streets with cowbells and rakes taken from a hardware store. They called themselves the Cowbellion de Rakin Society.

Today celebrations occur all along the Gulf Coast, from Texas to at least Fort Walton Beach, Fla., and small towns in between.

While Mobile has struggled lately with job layoffs, soldiers leaving for Iraq and related economic problems, the gloom has subsided a little for carnival in the port city, where about 30 Mardi Gras organizations form the nucleus of the celebration.

“People are not spending like last year. Too many people are unemployed,” said Carol Henson at Accent Annex, a Mardi Gras supplier. But she still has buyers for dancing jester dolls, crazy hats, designer beads, wreaths for doors and colorful sequined vests.

“Lots of people are decorating their homes with Mardi Gras trees,” she added. A typical tree is decorated with strings of beads and carnival masks.

Poor economy or not, the season of frivolity and late-night cavorting in this 300-year-old port city is expected to fill Mobile’s 5,700 hotel and motel rooms, particularly downtown where the major parades roll.

Police Capt. Joe Kennedy said about 833,000 people attended last year’s two weeks of Mardi Gras parades. He expects a similar turnout this year.

And in response to complaints about alcohol at the parades, an alcohol-free zone will be designated this year by roping off a block or more along the parade route, according to Mobile Public Safety Director Dick Cashdollar.

Fat Tuesday — or Mardi Gras Day — falls on Feb. 24, but the first parades rolled Jan. 24 on Dauphin Island. The pace picks up Friday in Mobile, when the first of the city’s 33 parades gets going.

For those raised in Mobile, riding a Mardi Gras float is a dream come true and for many a family tradition, said 26-year-old Tim Anderson, loading a shopping cart with beads he will throw to paradegoers during his first float ride.

Float-riders traditionally throw Moon Pies, stuffed animals and trinkets at the crowds — giant plastic pacifiers, oversized sunglasses, and bags of colorful beads, beads and more beads.

King Cake is another carnival tradition. Inside the cake is a small toy doll and the person who gets that slice has to buy the next cake.

There are kings and queens of carnival courts — and even some self-described royalty in the raucous Joe Cain parade.

Jenny Carden said she and her husband, Brad, would ride as the king and queen of the Tillman’s Tricksters, a suburban carnival krewe with some 50 members.

“We’re going to be riding in a carriage pulled by a Belgian horse named Moses,” she said.

Stephen V. Toomey, a Mardi Gras store owner, said carnival arrived early this year and even earlier next year, Feb. 8, giving little time to rest after Christmas.

“We’re blessed because Mardi Gras is a priority for folks. The show must go on,” Toomey said. “People find ways to make it happen.”

For Mobile, Ala., hotel and tourism information, visit www.mobile.org or www.gulfshores.com, or contact the Mobile Convention Bureau at (800) 5-MOBILE. Mobile Mardi Gras parade schedule:Friday — Conde Cavaliers, 6:30 p.m.Feb. 12 — Order of the Polka Dots, 6:15 p.m.Feb. 13 — Order of the Inca Parade (www.orderofinca .com), 6:30 p.m.Feb. 14 — Mobile Mystics Parade (www.mobilemystics .com), 2 p.m.; Maids of Mirth, 6:30 p.m.; Order of Butterfly Maidens and Mobile Married Mystics, 7 p.m.Feb. 15 — Order of the Pharoahs (www.thepharaohs .org), 2:30 p.m.; Mystic Friends, 3:30 p.m.; Neptune’s Daughter, 6:30 p.m.Feb. 16 — Krewe of Marry Mates, 6:30 p.m.; Mystical Ladies, 7 p.m.Feb. 17 — Order of Lashe, 6:30 p.m.; Order of Venus, 7 p.m.Feb. 19 — Mystic Striper, 6:30 p.m.Feb. 20 — Crewe of Columbus, 6:30 p.m.Feb. 21 — Floral, noon; Knights of Mobile, 12:45 p.m.; Coronation of Queen to King Felix III, 6:30 p.m.; Mystics of Time, 6:30 p.m.Feb. 22 — Arrival of King Elexis, 2 p.m.; Joe Cain, 2:30 p.m.; Le Krewe de Bienville, 5 p.m.; Les Femmes Cassettes, 5:30 p.m.; Coronation of King Elexis, 8:15 p.m.Feb. 23 — Arrival of King Felix III, noon; Infant Mystics, 6:30 p.m.Feb. 24 — Order of Athena, 10:30 a.m.; Knights of Revelry, 12:30 p.m.; King Felix, 1 p.m.; Comic Cowboys, 1:30 p.m.; Mobile Area Mardi Gras Assn., 3 p.m.; Order of Myths, 6:30 p.m.