Page 10 THE BATTALION
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 1978
focus
Freaky, decadent, bizarre,..
Mardi Gras struts out
By GLENNA WHITLEY
Battalion StafT
It’s a spectacle, a decadent dream
of a Ringling brother, a drunken
Rose Bowl parade.
Masks cover those that taunt the
E shouting, hooting, begging crowd.
Some masks are curtains of satin,
some are clear plastic that make the
flesh below look embalmed. Other
masks are works of art — elaborate
fantasies of silver, feathers, bright
stones and spikes that make the
crowd ooh and aah.
The effect is ghoulish.
“Give me some beads. C’mon,
throw me something,” shouts a
middle-aged woman whose black
hair is piled in curls on her head.
She runs into the street and pounds
on a masked man straddling a horse.
He grins, holds out a string of yel
low plastic beads. She grabs, squeals
and runs back into the crowd.
It’s Saturday night, and the
Krewe of Endymion has started its
parade.
Thousands of people line Canal
Street. The crowd is four persons
deep. Boys and boys-at-heart are
perched on every street-light and
every tree in sight. Those lucky
enough to own a business, or to
know someone who owns one along
the parade route, lean from bal
conies or hang out windows. They
scream and wave as frantically as the
people down in the street.
It’s only a parade. There are
marching bands, Shriners in little
go-carts, horses and riders, floats
with silly themes, and people
dressed in costumes waving to the
crowd.
But it’s more. It’s legitimate craz
iness. Official, anything goes. The
city’s attitude is — Do what you
want, (short of putting someone in
the hospital) and spend lots of
(money.
-What makes the parades truly fun
is that the people who ride the floats
throw things to the spectators:
Strings of beads, little dolls, trin
kets, and specially-minted coins
called doubloons. Some of the doub
loons are collector’s items. Some
will get you two free pieces of
chicken at Popeye s Chicken Stand,
however most are worthless.
But the doubloon-and-trinket-
tossing is what makes the parades
participatory. Without that, Mardi
Gras would be nice costumes, floats
and music.
Instead it’s a cut-throat battle.
The first thing I was told about
the parades was not how beautiful
they were, or how much the elabo
rate costumes cost, but how to catch
doubloons.
“You don’t dare grab with your
hands,” said a native I met at the
airport. “First step on it and then
reach under your foot to pick it up.
Otherwise you’ll get your hand
stomped on.”
It’s true. Caught up in the ex
citement of the floats, music and
something for nothing, some people
are dead serious about catching as
much junk as possible.
I
How ridiculous it seemed»Tex;
minute later I noticed my lawst c
the air waving “Gimme, s footba
and my friend, in size 12, stetjof inte
boots, stepping on a smaillncl
tennis shoe to get a doublooiBck c
Guess who kept the doubt in the
But if the beads hit thefiloom
forget it. The crowd issoderwowed
beads are crushed. You bad A
catch those in the air. Aggies
Some people are so seriouBThi
catching vast quantities oftliB the
they rig up nets, cut off them Tex:
of Clorox bottles and moumBnt t
on poles to get above the years i
the crowd. Bnt t
But the parades are onlyM Be:
Mardi Gras. Different krn pne thi
definitions) put on fancy dresBAno
but these are by invitation |>y the
freaks, transients and
are not invited. Formal!
to be the essence of Mardi
for the cream of New
ciety. Needless to say, I mj
vited.
But I ve heard they’re stifj
boring anyway.
Then there’s the French!)
with Bourbon Street at itss
probably safely designatedd
hub of debauchery for Mardil
I had heard all the storiesl
you-won’t-believe-its from hi
So I was looking forward toi[
some Romanesque.
People vamping, taking dl
ous articles of clothing, dancr 011
the streets to funky jail, •m
sniffing nnusua] drugs. Yoiis^
1 expected it.
Frankly, I was disappoinrij
Debauchery mainly amm
drinking. Everyone carrieil)
or a scotch and water, or aka
in a huge styrofoam cup.
The crowd is diverse:aB* 1111
aged couples on vacation. B r ’ !
kids, bums, Jesus freaks, gRP ’
gays arm-in-arm, busineR'I; 1
women, housewives. EveraRr, ,
drunk. R-
Joints are passed atouwhl I? 01
corners. Po/feemen are evenuly 1 '^
Imp
but few arrests are made -
seem not to care what you do: I’ ^
as no one gets hurt. In fact.* y
the arrests made during thisB P 1
Mardi Gras were for vagml ”
sleeping in the bus terminal■T
People pass the strip joint*, e
fashioned r-arnival barkfirsshB*
Hofs
Pgh
Ked
First, some definitions
fashioned, carnival barkerssi
wares. “See the pretty boil
want to be girls, chants ajjl
gray man in front of a bar t!L,
tures female impersonators. ■
Everyone strains for a glitlr e
flesh through the open doorF-—
ever, most keep going. Lto
But the temparature mat R
kept the debauchery dowB
minimum this year. After alj
naked?
Maybe I’ll go back next yt|
By GLENNA WHITLEY
Mardi Gras in New Orleans is
many things. Natives can love it or
hate it. They can build their social
group around it, or leave town when
that time comes around.
But no one in New Orleans ig
nores it.
First some definitions: Carnival is
the two weeks before Mardi Gras,
when more than 50 parades are held
all over the city, its suburbs and
neighborhoods. Mardi Gras, or “Fat
Tuesday” is the final day of that
period—the Tuesday before Ash
Wednesday. This year Mardi Gras
was Feb. 7. Since it occurs 40 Len
ten days before Easter, Mardi Gras
can happen anytime in a six-week
period in February and March. It
hasn’t started any earlier than this
year’s date in about 50 years.
Though the adjective “fat” is odd
to use for a day, the word “gras ”, or
fat is used as in the French phrase
foie gras—or sinfully rich.
It describes the insanity per
fectly.
Mardi Gras is different from any
other festival or parade in the coun
try. Instead of being put on by city
hall, or the fire department, or the
American Legion, Mardi Gras is put
on by private clubs called “krewes. ”
The sole reason for the krewes’ exis-
tance is to stage parades and balls
during Carnival.
These krewes are closed organiza
tions. Their selectivity often is a re
flection of the social status of its
members.
Some of the top krewes are very
exclusive. They have few Jews and
no blacks. However, there are kre
wes that have only black members.
The names of the krewes are mys
tic and colorful: Rex, Bacchus, Zulu
(a black krewe), Endymion, Pro
teus, Nefertari, and Thoth for
example.
Krewes choose a King or
Queen,(sometimes both,) or some
other type of monarch, an Emperor
or Pharoah. In some of the exclusive
old krewes, the King’s name is a se
cret.
Other krewes, like Endymion and
Bacchus, have celebrity kings and
guests.
Cheryl Ladd, of television’s
“Charlie’s Angels,” singer Wayne
Newton, singer, and trumpet player
Doc Severinson, were featured in
the Endymion parade this year.
Ed McMahon, Tonite Show co
host and beer spokesman, was the
King of Bacchus.
Battalion
Photos by
Glenna Whitley
A clarinet player jazzes up Mardi Gras with “When the Saints
Go Marching In” on one of the floats in the Venus parade.
By MICHELLE SCUDDER
Mardi Gras was fun for some, but
a lot of hard work for a few Texas
A&M organizations who'went to the
celebration.
The Corps of Cadets came out in
mass to enjoy the festivities, but
mainly worked to win awards in drill
competition.
The Ross Volunteers, Women’s
Drill Team, and Fish Drill Team all
participated in Mardi Gras parades
and activities.
“We had a good time at Mardi
Gras,” said John Stine, Fish Drill
Team commander. “We had a yell
practice at Pat O’Briens, and col
lected beads and coins thrown from
the parade floats. It was pretty fun.”
The Fish Drill Te£»m placed first
in the Tulane Invitational Drill
Meet held this last weekend.
Drill team adviser Leonard Gulig
Corps joins the festivities
said he thinks their performance
may help the group regain the state
championship. The team had the
title from 1971 to 1976. The first of a
three-meet competition for the state
title will be held at the University of
Texas on March 4.
The Ross Volunteers, also made
their mark on the Mardi Gras scene
by making their 27th consecutive
appearance as the lead unit in the
Rex Parade.
RV commander Bill Rademacher
said Mardi Gras wasn’t as wild as
last year.
“The general concensus in New
Orleans that this was one of the least
crazy Mardi Gras in a long time,”
Rademacher said. “It seemed to be
due to the cold weather and the
previous Super Bowl.”
However, Susan Graesser, com
mander of the women’s drill team.
“A lot of French culture can be
learned in New Orleans,” Graesser
said. “We got to meet a lot of people
and enjoy them. And we saw a lot of
Aggies, there, too.”
The Women’s Drill team
marched in the Krewe of Jupiter
parade, and participated in the
Tulane Invitational Drill Meet on a
noncompetitive status. They were
graded on inspection and exhibition
drill formation. The defending
Texas champion women’s team will
also compete for the state cham
pionship in March.
The U.S.S. Francis Marion, a
4roop transport currently docked at
New Orleans, served as hotel to all
three organizations while they were
there.