Without a doubt the two most iconic images of Mardis Gras must be the carnival mask and Mardi Gras beads thrown about by festival goers during the celebration, but not many people give much thought to how these traditions evolved. Carnival masks have been a festival tradition for centuries, but the beads are a much newer phenomenon that has its own unique origins just perfect for the biggest party in the Big Easy.
Although Mardi Gras has been celebrated in the United States since the early 1800s (if not much earlier), the traditions we are most familiar with today evolved much later. The parade, the beads, the masks, these came after simply getting together to drink, dance, and enjoy the week united the people of New Orleans. The first recorded instance of Mardi Gras beads came about during the Rex parade in the 1920s, wherein the krewe of a passing float threw out inexpensive glass beads to festival participants as they passed down the parade route.
The bead industry has exploded since that time, with each parade krewe spending hundreds or thousands of dollars on their own unique beads that must be ordered months in advance, and a whole ritual of getting the beads from krewe members and random festival goers alike. Cries of “throw me something, mister!” echo throughout the city during Mardi Gras, and in the French Quarter more salacious rituals are followed to earn the beads. As a result these little trinkets have earned a place in history and popular culture alike for centuries to come, enchanting partiers all around the continent with images of raucous entertainment…