These people are crazzy...and I'm one of them!

Well I had my first Mardi Gras experience and I must say that I fully believe everyone at some time in their life should experience one Mardi Gras parade.  I am amazed that the entire purpose of this activity is to be wild.  People spend hundreds of dollars to be part of these "crews" and all just to give the public a good time.  Here is some video from tonight's parade.

This is a video I took from tonight.  I am positioned on the Red Square balcony.  The band featured here is the band that played at The Square tonight before the festivities began.  They are featured in EVERY parade during Mardi Gras.  So fun.  I have a pile of beads to show for it!

Well, today is the long awaited first parade of Mardi Gras season!  The city buzzing and filling up with visitors and the weather can't be better. 

I will be spending my first parade from one of the best places on the parade route.  Red Square Agency is aprox halfway through the route on the widest street in the city.  People brag that our balcony is perfect for catching beads.  We will be hosting a client/vendor party and have been informed to have drink-in-hand right at 5 when the Excelsior Band will begin performing.
http://www.excelsior1883.com/

I received my employee security pass.  This is to let me in and our of our building which will be guarded by security. 

I am SO ready!

Folks down here don't take down Christmas decorations, they just replace them with Mardi Gras decorations.  Here are a few scenes from around the office:

This is a lovely wreath on Elena's office door.
It was given to her by her mother-in-law

And here is our "Throw Gecko". 
This is to be thrown from a parade
float to some lucky kid.



Mardi Gras in Mobile, Ala. - chicagotribune.com

Mardi Gras in Mobile, Ala. - chicagotribune.com

This article sums it all up well. This was passed around the office with one comment summing it up the best:

"What we have is less nudity. Pleny of drunkenness and debauchery"

Mystics

At lunch today the conversation of Mardi Gras segregation was introduced to me.  A documentary has been written about just this- Mardi Gras in  Mobile, the mystic societies and how segregated it is.  It has been added to our Netflix intant cue...     http://www.theorderofmyths.com/index2.html

for all your party needs...

Brody and I visited a Mardi Gras super-store this weekend.  It's one of those buildings you don't usually notice, except as of mid-January it has been adorned with gaudy gold and green decor.  Upon entering you are greeted at the door to a warehouse style interior with walls lined with hundreds of specialty beads.  Beads with dolphins, beads with hearts, beads with little zoo animals with springy legs and even beads with shot glasses attached. There is a mask section, with masks ranging in gaudiness and a goofy hat section.  Then there is the "throws" area.  Box after cardboard box of random things.  I found a big box of giant pacifiers cleverly titled "giant pacifiers".  I let Brody pick out a set of beads.  He chose a green set with a foam ear on corn on it (there were also tomatoes and carrots, but he is a corn fan).  With our purchase we got a free Moon Pie- peanut butter flavored.  It was fabulous- Brody loved it!

Mardi Gras History

So how did this all begin?  The following is the history....with lots of gaps.


1703- It is believed that a limited version of Mardi Gras (Fat Tuesday) is celebrated at Twenty-Seven Mile Bluff, the first Mobile settlement. The day is celebrated with feasting and drinking.


1711- The celebration of Mardi Gras continues at the present site of Mobile as residents join together in song, food, and dance. The “Boeuf Gras Society,” meaning fat beef, is founded and a large, paper-mache bull’s head is reportedly paraded down Dauphin Street on an ox-drawn cart.

1830- Michael Krafft in Mobile establishes America’s first organized and masked Carnival Society, “The Cowbellion de Rakin Society.” On December 31, 1830, Krafft and six of his friends “borrow” rakes, bells, hoes, and pitchforks from a local hardware store and parade through the streets of Mobile until the early hours of New Years Day. The “Cowbellions’” costumes are made in France and delivered by ship to Mobile.

1837- Members of the “Cowbellion de Rakin Society” introduce “throws” to the parade crowd. Cobellians throw sugar plumbs, kisses, and oranges to the crowd.
  
1861- The “Boeuf Gras Society,” founded in 1711, is disbanded as many of its young members go off to fight for the Confederacy in the Civil War.

1864- As a result of the Battle of Mobile Bay, the city of Mobile cancels the celebration of Carnival to recuperate and concentrate on the defense of the city from Union troop attack.

1872- The Royal Court tradition begins in Mobile as Daniel E. Huger is crowned “Emperor Felix I.”
 

1902- Some 4,600 incandescent lights are hung on buildings lighting the Mardi Gras parade route.

Mobile’s General Council restricts the wearing of masks to mystic societies and children under twelve years old. This legal measure is designed to crack down on “mischievous” crime and other bad behavior during the carnival season. This ordinance also forbids females to enter bar rooms on Mardi Gras Day.  

1942 - 1944- All Mardi Gras parades and balls are replaced by war bond rallies and patriotic functions related to World War II.


1950- Mobile’s first women’s mystic societies (Order of the Polka Dots and Maids of Mirth) make their parade debuts.

1996- It is estimated that $25 million a year is circulated through the Mobile economy as a result of Mardi Gras.