Meet the Vulcans of the Saint Paul Winter Carnival. Our Unique History.

Do you want to know the secrets and treasures behind  this awesome 100 plus years fraternal society?  Come meet and learn about the Saint Paul Winter Carnival’s famous Vulcan Organization and Krewe.

According to past presidents of the Imperial Order of Fire and Brimstone, the lore all started back in 1886. That’s when the Saint Paul Winter Carnival first created “the Fire King Coal.” The character persisted until 1940, when he mustered an official gang, the Vulcan Krewe. In this ongoing play that continues each year called the Saint Paul Winter Carnival, the Vulcans act as the fiery adversaries of King Boreas, the Queen of Snow, and the Order of the Royal Guard. The Saint Paul Vulcans support our surrounding communities and work closely with the Saint Paul Winter Carnival each year to make the celebration a success.

IN THE BEGINNING THERE WERE TWO KINGS

Winter Carnival Traditionally Was a Winter Sports Festival Ruled over by a Winter King. According to our founder, Bill Sampson, “things started way back with Louie Hill in 1885 and stopped after the Kaiser War”. While we may joke and quip about Boreas’s strength as a king, in reality Vulcanus only exists because of the want of an ending. However after many days during the first carnival, the organizers struggled to find a way to bring it to a conclusion. It was decided that there would be a Summer King – a strong figure to drive out winter and usher back the warmth.

Fire King Coal had Been Born. And the two Kings faced off for the next 4 years. After that things were scaled back and while various carnivals came and went during Winter, there wasn’t another pair of Kings until 1916 and 1917. It was during this time that Fire King Coal took on a new name – one to endure through the many years – Vulcanus Rex. The “human embodiment of the fire god”. However that round was also short lived as the first World War, the social turbulence and affects of the Great Depression weighed in. It wasn’t until 1936 when Luke Crawford, Carl Gray (head of the railroad) and Eldridge of Hilex Company decided to reactivate the carnival with the help of the Junior Chamber.

In 1935, we had the ‘Winter Sports Week’ with Skiing and Some Monkey Business. “It sparked this thing.” said Bill Sampson on recollecting those events for an interview in 1972. “So in 1936 this committee got together. I was on the committee with Crawford, Gray, Eldridge, a major from Fort Snelling and about ten of us. We met for about two weeks at noon at the Athletic Club and we planned a parade. We had a guy who was doing promotions for the St. Paul Civic Opera who sat in on the meetings and he’d feed the stuff to the newspapers.” Arrangements were made for national syndication on NBC and there were over 2,500 people in the parade plus floats, balloons, and all the color and excitement you would expect at such a big event. And the Winteer Carnival began to grow.

THE FIRST VULCAN KREWE

​The First Vulcan Krewe was the Brainchild of the 1940 Fire King, E. R. Reiff. Up until 1940, every year the fire king was a last minute orchestration and according to Bill Sampson, somebody said “this Vulcan operation ought to have some kind of a serious system to it. It ought to be more than an after-thought at the last minute. Something has to be put together.” So E. R Reiff, who was the president of St. Paul Casualty Company, devised the classic uniforms, the knighting ceremony, the black smooching, the fire engines to run around in. So under Bernie Reiff, the Fire King and his krewe was established with the ceremonies and events that we now follow today. History has not been forgotten. 

The Vulcan Krewe and legend largely remains the same as it was a century ago. In that year, 1940, there were 6 vulcans who ran with the fire king.  A tradition that would hold until 1970 when the Prince of Soot was added to the Vulcan characters and roles. And from that time forward we have 7 Krewe members.