Boobs
for Beads
By Mark Greenawalt
Even the most inhibited ladies can
cave in to the pressure of flashing their breasts for
the coveted prize of Mardi Gras beads. How could such
a trivial reward coerce them into baring these magical
body parts that typically only see the light of day
in the shower or possibly during one-on-one intimacy
with their partner? This may well be one of life's mysteries
that will forever remain unanswered, but nonetheless
this tradition has been bringing ear-to-ear grins to
the four million partygoers year after year during the
Fat Tuesday celebration.
Legend has it that this deviant practice actually began
very innocently. As early as 1871, masked characters
would be riding on parade floats through the streets
of New Orleans and they would be throwing out inexpensive
souvenirs to the crowd. These souvenirs, also referred
to as “throws”, would consist of plastic
cups, medallions, doubloons, and yes, the peep-show-inducing
bead necklaces. People are competitive by nature and
the race was on to see who could collect the most throws.
Beautiful young ladies would yell out, “Throw
me something, mister” and fill their goodie bags
with the collected loot. In the 1970’s, the notoriously
raunchy French Quarter District gave the tradition a
slightly different slant by coming up with the mutually
beneficial bartering system of boobs for beads.
Due to the narrow streets, the French Quarter District
no longer hosts parades for safety reasons, but it has
still come to be party central for drinking and debauchery.
Economists estimate that Mardi Gras generates more than
half a billion dollars for the local economy each year
and it is evident that a large portion of the money
is spent on beer and beads. The men bring the beads
to the party and women take them home and the beer is
the catalyst that makes it a fun transaction for everyone.
Ironically, the women’s antiquated phrase “Throw
me something, mister” has been replaced by the
men’s phrase “Show me your tits”.
In the real world this phrase would be vulgar and inappropriate
to say to a woman, but in the Carnival of Mardi Gras,
it brings a smile and an eye-full of skin instead of
a scowl and a slap in the face. Arthur Hardy, a New
Orleans television personality and publisher of Arthur
Hardy's Mardi Gras Guide, said, “It's always young
co-eds who get drunk. They would never do this back
home, but they feel they have the license to do it here.
One of man’s innate conquests in life is to see
as many of the normally shrouded areolas as possible.
All the while the women are wondering what’s the
big deal, but yet they continue to hide them from man’s
site like proverbial buried treasures. This supply and
demand has spurred the popularity of the so-called gentlemen’s
clubs like the aptly named Bourbon Street Circus where
there’s more than a mere flash of the mammaries,
but the cost is also much more than plastic beads. But
the atmosphere of a topless bar seems stuffy compared
to the “girls gone wild” appeal of the Big
Easy. In fact, it almost appears as if the ladies, en
route to inebriation, are wanting to be thrown beads
so they will have the opportunity to let loose the cannons.
Some even forgo their shirts altogether in favor of
being bodypainted so they can walk around effectively
topless. Although baring breasts is illegal under indecent
exposure laws, this is one time of the year that even
the police reverently turn the other cheek in order
to let the revelers have their adult fun
Serena of Tempe made the trek to New Orleans several
years ago and says that lifting her shirt in public
was one of the most liberating things she’s ever
done. “It’s not something you get to do
everyday,” she says, “and it’s fun
to get a little naughty every now and then.” So
this year, whether you are on the giving or receiving
end of the bead exchange, enjoy the exposure. Long live
Mardi Gras!
(Send your Mardi Gras pictures relating to this story
to Sonik magazine. Several lucky winners will be receive
an authentic bead necklace!)
Ahh, Mardi
Gras!
By Natalie Vansasse
Ah Mardi Gras! Just thinking about
it makes anyone want to go. The infamous party, and
official holiday in Louisiana, lures thousands of people
annually. But it hasn’t always been about the
boobs and beads; Mardi Gras has left its footsteps in
history as well.
Mardi Gras is actually the French translation of Fat
Tuesday, not the bar, but the second day before the
fasting period Lent starts. Already a huge holiday celebrated
all around the world for centuries, known as Carnival,
it’s a day when people get to unleash their wild
side before the long, sinless, forty days before Easter.
The reason Mardi Gras is so much bigger and better in
New Orleans than the rest of the States is thanks to
Pierre le Moyne, a French explorer. When Pierre decided
to leave Paris for America, he declared a spot near
the Mississippi river, just about where New Orleans
is today, Mardi Gras point, because the holiday was
going on in his hometown. This happened way in the beginning,
before the Louisiana Purchase and all that other stuff
you learned in high school.
Most of the main attractions at the Mardi Gras parade
date way back, with influences in slavery. Many slaves
and free men of color would join together at Congo Square,
a market place where they could make money and eventually
buy their freedom. That’s where dressing up, dancing
and drinking in public first started. It was also very
prominent on the plantations. They would openly celebrate
Mardi Gras there and started to wear masks when leaving
the “colored” part of town. Under Spanish
rule, street masking and masked balls were actually
banned, but uncle Sam took care of that law when New
Orleans came under the American flag. Masks are still
a lasting tradition at Mardi Gras, and are often so
beautiful and intricate they are sold at expensive French
Quarter boutiques. There are many local designers that
even import beads and sequins from all over the world
to make the perfect mask. Following the masquerade tradition,
face (and chest) painting has become increasingly popular,
making it fun for everyone to party in disguise. Not
everyone wears a mask, but wearing one seems to make
it a little easier to lose all control and party the
streets of New Orleans.
Mardi Gras as we know it is a little more modern than
when it was first celebrated. It wasn’t until
the 19th century that Mardi Gras really made a comeback
in the reborn way that we celebrate today. People were
forming krewes, groups or clubs who build and ride the
floats; spend months of preparation to be the shining
star of the parade. In other words, krewes live for
Mardi Gras. The first group of people to really strike
back and re-energize the spirit of Mardi Gras was the
krewe called Comus. They set the trend of choosing a
mythological name, one that every krewe since has followed.
Comus was the first of many to come to present a themed
parade with floats and finish it off with a Tableau
or masquerade ball. Ever since parades took off, there
has been strong competition among krewes for who gets
to enter the French Quarter first and strut its stuff
down Bourbon street, the hotspot for a Mardi Gras party.
After following Comus’s example, a second krewe
emerges called the Twelfth Knight Reveler’s. They
initiated a lot of Mardi Gras traditions that still
carry on today. A famous and still active custom is
choosing the queen of Mardi Gras by presenting a king
cake. A group of society’s debutantes would each
get a piece of the cake; the one who gets the piece
with a golden bean in it is crowned queen. Although
no longer made with golden beans, but a little plastic
baby, king cakes are still a hit. More than 750,000
king cakes are sold each year in New Orleans around
Mardi Gras time, with orders waiting for more. On top
of the king cake, the Reveler’s introduced the
idea of throws, which are basically gifts that are thrown
off the float to the public. Throws are one of the main
focuses of Mardi Gras. Choosing the right throws is
an intense decision and krewes can go shop for hours
finding the right beads and perfect gifts to satisfy
the hungry crowds. Some people even go to the extreme
of putting boxes on sticks, so it’s easier to
catch more. The term “throw me something mister”
has become part of the local’s vocabulary. The
obsession with party favors is what triggered the revolutionary
doubloon. Every krewe has its own doubloon, an aluminum
coin with the krewes emblem on it. Doubloons are challenging
to catch, but the sensation of having all of them drives
the crowds to go crazy. Some even consider them collector’s
items and have doubloon albums; just another reason
for chaos among the melting pot of people that New Orleans
attracts annually for the best party of the year.
And it is indeed, the best party of the year. It’s
the only place you’ll see fights over party favors,
costumed crazies walking the streets and girls wearing
beads as shirts. So if you’re still a Mardi Gras
virgin, go!!! Unmask your inhibitions, and have the
time of your life.
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