Baubles, Bangles, and Bright Shiny Beads

Boiled Crawfish, also known as Mud Bugs, are a popular treat here.

Throw me some beads, Mister!

New Orleans, Louisiana

February 22, 2007

Carnival is New Orleans' party time. Mardi Gras festivities occur in cities and towns along the Gulf Coast from Pensacola, FL to Galveston, TX. and, over the years, we've been to several of them. Mardi Gras festivals in the U.S. began in Mobile, Alabama, but the celebrations in New Orleans are what people usually associate with the Carnival season. Events in anticipation of Mardi Gras begin in early January and culminate the stroke of midnight the day before Ash Wednesday, the beginning of the Lenten season of abstinence in the Christian calendar. [That's when the mounted police and the sanitation department's street-washing trucks, blasting water, dash through the French Quarter flushing out people and debris.

The first N.O. parade, Krewe du Vieux rolled on Saturday night, February 3. We were parked along the parade route and were in a good position to see everything and did not have to sit in our lawn chairs for a few hours to save our spot, which wouldn't have been necessary as we were in a less populated area.

Unlike the other Carnival parades, the Krewe du Vieux rolls through the French Quarter. They are able to do so because their floats (really mule drawn wagons) are smaller than those of the larger krewes. The Krewe du Vieux is a loose confederation of smaller krewes such as the Krewe du Mishagas. They are also outrageously satiric, often lewd, and caustically critical; they poked fun at the powers that be and those involved with the rebuilding. The floats are small and made by the krewe members, rather than coming from a float-making company. Krewe members walk, rather than ride on the floats, so there are fewer 'throws' than in other parades; limited to what they can carry. I got a bolt from a krewe parodying the contractors and Sarah got a decorated bagel from the Krewe du Mishagas. We also got 'stickered' by some revelers and, of course, got some beads.

Although the Krewe du Vieux was the first scheduled parade (There are parades each weekend until about a week before Mardi Gras, then there are parades daily, sometimes more than one in a day.), just before they came down Royal Street, where we were parked, the Krewe du Jieux came through. The small Krewe du Jieux parades on their own (unpublicized) schedule, without a planned route, playing Hava Nagila as they march along. We had never seen them before and they were gone before I could take a picture. I ran to the corner to take a picture as they turned along the parade route, but they took a different turn and disappeared into the crowd.

The following day (Sunday), we relocated (for state park stay-limit reasons: no more than 15 consecutive days without an absence of at least a week) to another state park on the north shore of Lake Ponchartrain passing through Slidell. Seeing that we were driving along the parade route, we found a good spot and waited for the parade. It was a 'family-friendly' parade, as were the others that we saw on the north shore: lots of toy 'throws' for the kids. Plenty of beads, too.

After a week of biking, etc., it was time for another weekend of parades: Mandeville, Abita Springs, Covington, and Slidell (again). As you can see by the photos, the parades differ. A small town such as Abita Springs doesn't have enough people to have krewes unless everyone in town participated; then there would be no one to watch except Sarah and me.

We were probably the only out-of-towners at the Abita Springs parade; everyone seemed to know each other. We were probably the only visitors to Covington, Slidell, and Mandeville, which are much larger than Abita Springs, from outside of the region who didn't have friends or family there. New Orleans draws people from across the U.S. and from foreign countries. It's amazing what a couple of bare breasts can do, also the major parades are longer with larger floats.

Sarah easily catches some beads in Abita Springs

A lawn mower pulls this train of home-made floats in Abita Springs' parade.

Other 'floats' were just decorated ATV trailers pulled by the family pick-up.

Many of the floats (a parade may have several dozen), bands, and other groups were in more than one parade. Of course Mandeville's high school band led the Krewe of Eve parade in Mandeville and Covington's high school band led the Krewe of Olympia parade in Covington. Budweiser's Clydesdales seemed to be everywhere and I noticed that 'Spuds MacKenzie' has been replaced by a dalmatian. [I guess that pit bulls have gotten a bad reputation after a decade of maulings across the U.S. and who would want to be with a pit bull that's been lapping the sauce.]

This float (left) was in the Krewe of Eve parade in Mandeville and (right) the Krewe of Olympia in Covington, used by different organizations.

Krewes are like fraternal organizations. People pay for the right to be on a float and buy their own 'throws.' The payments often go to charities. For some of the krewes, one must be accepted by secret ballot; in others, one need only have their membership check not bounce.

On February 14, we returned to New Orleans from the North Shore (of Lake Ponchartrain) to begin attending the seven days of parades that culminate with Mardi Gras (This year, Mardi Gras was on February 20^th. There is a fixed number of days (46) between Mardi Gras and Easter. Easter (Roman Catholic) is the first Sunday following the Vernal Equinox. As the date of Easter changes as much as several weeks in the secular calendar, so does the date of Mardi Gras: From early February to early March.)

Mardi Gras dinners are a tradition and the traditional desert is a 'King Cake,' a coffee-cake style ring with green, yellow, and purple icing (the Mardi Gras colors). A baby figure (originally porcelain, now often plastic) is inserted in the cake. Who ever gets the piece with Baby Jesus traditionally hosts the next year's dinner. The Kosher Cajun Deli sells kosher, pareve King Cakes. Do they contain a Baby Moses?

A leader of the Krewe of Chaos.

Many krewe leaders ride horses and are similarly dressed in elaborate robes and masks. They often toss doubloons, souvenir coins. Sarah goes for the beads; I look forward to getting a few doubloons. On this trip, a float rider gave a handful of doubloons to a policeman and asked him to give them to me, as I stood behind the barricade. Float riders often target someone in the crowd for a throw. I've never seen doubloons given away like that before.

A handful doubloons are frequently tossed into the throng and people scramble for them as they hit the ground. I was almost in a doubloon accident. I had my eye on a doubloon and a lady stepped on it. By tradition, if you step on a doubloon, it's yours.

Dancers from the Krewe of Muses, an all-woman krewe:

Endymion is the largest parade of the Carnival season. Above is a single float in two attached sections. Some are longer.

The floats in the major New Orleans parades are much larger than those in the smaller parades, which are comparable to those in the smaller cities. Endymion, the largest of N.O.'s parades, has 40 floats with 2500 riders, posses of horsemen, and a dozen marching bands. In addition to bead necklace (originally glass) throws, krewes also throw toys and trinkets.

Parades often have themes for the floats. This year, many themes centered on Katrina and its aftermath.

A publication stated, facetiously, that “every Mexican with a hammer is in

New Orleans.” This float repeats that theme.

FLAMBEAUX: Torch-bearers illuminated the floats in the days before street lighting
and electrified floats. Today, they are there for tradition.
They are not part of the krewes and do not get paid. Many people toss, or give, them money.

Some krewes are known to have special throws: Muses' shoes, Zulu's coconuts, Tucks' toilet paper, and Mishagas' bagels. Legally, coconuts, (stale)bagels and other dangerous objects may not be thrown as they could injure someone; they must handed off. It is difficult to get a Zulu coconut as one must get close to the float, and there are barricades keeping spectators on the sidewalks. As time goes by, it's getting increasingly difficult for me to jump barricades.

Krewe parades often have themes for the floats. Bacchus' theme this year was “Through the Eyes of a Child.” Each float was designed to portray a children's film. Endymion's parade theme was “Endangered and Extinct Species.” Each float featured a particular species. Some krewes have politically satiric statements lampooning local, regional, and national figures. Much of the satire focused on Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath. We don't know all of the politicians or the issues, so much of it was lost on us, but there was plenty that we understood or could figure out. The floats are professionally created by a variety of float-creating companies and towed by tractors.

The Truck Parade

Some organizations are too small to hold a parade. Business groups, community organizations, neighbors, etc. participate in the 'Truck Parade.' More than 100 (They're numbered) commercial flatbed trailers, decorated by the group members, roll down the parade route tossing their throws into the throng of spectators. There are no marching bands, cheerleaders, or horsemen; it's as if a Chinese toy factory exploded as necklaces, toys, and baubles rain from above. The ten best floats are given awards.

Many spectators bring coolers of food and drink. Some bring barbecues.
There is a lot of beer being imbibed. Although the powers-that-be know
that there will be a lot of food, there are few litter baskets. The streets
become filled with food debris and broken necklaces along the curb and
on the sidewalk; by morning, it's all gone.

Banks of portable toilets are strategically placed and cleaned and restocked nightly. Many stores and gas stations close their restrooms and have several portable toilets in their parking lots. Some stores have guards to limit their toilets to customer.

After watching the parades, we went to the French Quarter to soak up the atmosphere, music, and spirits. Spirits are often 3 for 1. (Public consumption of alcohol is allowed, but not in glass containers.)

Party 'til you puke!

We spent Lundi Gras and Mardi Gras in the French Quarter. Because we were there so late on Monday and Tuesday's parades started early, and because we had a good parking spot, we decided not to return to St. Bernard and caught a few winks in the van before starting a new day of activities. On Wednesday, we slept until ten.

Parking in the downtown area is usually $5 for 12 hours. On Lundi Gras, 12 hours was $20 and $30 for Mardi Gras. We lucked-out by finding a parking space on the street and ended up saving more than $100 in parking fees and didn't have to spend the time driving back and forth. Also, lots fill early on Mardi Gras day, so getting a spot the day before really worked out for us.

The French Quarter, the popular tourist attraction of New Orleans, was almost totally destroyed in a fire in the late 18^th century, then rebuilt under the Spanish administration. By the 1930s, the French Quarter had become a slum that was scheduled for demolition for the construction of public housing. Prosperous locals bought properties and began making repairs to homes that had been demolished by neglect. Award plaques are given to homes that have been well restored.

In the French Quarter, many people were in creative costumes; some sexually explicit, political, humorous, or all three. I would have taken more photographs, but the narrow streets were so filled with people that by the time the 'shutter' on my digital camera clicked, what I got was an image of someone walking by or the subject had disappeared into the crowd.

A parade with one float

Who is the protester and who is the counter-protester?:

While wandering around the Vieux Carre, we noticed a change in behavior from past visits. In the past, some woman exposed their breasts in order to get some nice beads. Many still do. Others just parade around wearing only paint on their upper bodies and there seems to be more of them now.

Decisions, decisions....

The 'halter' that this woman (above) is wearing is painted on. It is two dimensional. The view from the other side is three dimensional. I can't show the photo of the other side on our blog.

You can imagine what happened two seconds later.

A painted butterfly emerged from its cocoon. She got her beads. Lots of people got photos.

People on balconies throw necklaces to people in the street; people in the street throw necklaces to people on the balconies. And not just on the major party streets. As we were walking back to Bourbon Street after dinner, someone on a dark balcony called to us and tossed us some nice necklaces, not one of the cheap throws.

Sarah shmoozes with a private security guard.

He and the other guard (right) each gave her a dozen necklaces.

As we were leaving the French Quarter after the 'flush-out,' I saw the same guy on Rampart Street. (It's the FQ's northern boundary, where the wall of the fortress once stood. The southern boundary is the Mississippi River.) He wished some passers-by a happy Mardi Gras and invited them into the local bar for a drink on him. It appeared to be a family group: Parents and two young adult children. Shortly after group went into the bar, the youngsters came out and regurgitated a bright orange liquid. When the parents came out, all four were laughing and seemed to be enjoying themselves. They weren't the only pukers that we had seen that night. [The American Dream: A Christmas that you'll never forget and a Mardi Gras that you can't remember. You can always look at your friends photographs; and if you've been naughty, on the internet.]

Eye-in-the-Sky

We did not feel unsafe while in the French Quarter or along the parade routes, or dozing in the van. There was an obvious police presence. There are also many security guards to protect private establishments. Canal Street, the western edge of the French Quarter, draws the largest crowds. The Canal Street Mc Donald's had two armed guards.

Sarah shows how well she did at Carnival collecting baubles, bangles, and bright shiny beads, stuffed toys, and two, count them, two Zulu decorated coconuts.

When Louisianians go into New Orleans to watch the parades, they ask each other if they want to go the long way or the depressing way. As we are staying in St. Bernard, both ways are the depressing ways. One doesn't get used to it. On each trip through St. Bernard, the Lower Ninth Ward, and Bywater; we saw some damage that we hadn't noticed before.

One of the things that we see every night on our way back to the campground is the 24/7 dumping of tank-trucks of sewage into the manholes just before crossing into St. Bernard. The sewer system is out and this is a stop-gap measure. They must be collecting sewage from the numerous FEMA villages, too.

Purim is just around the corner and Spring is not far behind. I hope that I'll soon get another chance to wear the 'fool's cap' that I keep in the van for New Year's, Mardi Gras, and Purim.

Chag Purim Sameach!

Laissez le bon temps rouler,

Allen & Sarah

To see the next post of this trip, click here.