Mardi gras why do they throw beads

Why are beads thrown at Mardi Gras? Angelica Florio Updated Feb 14, pm. FB Tweet More. Each year, more than 1 million people descend on New Orleans for Mardi Gras , an organized parade of debauchery and alcohol-induced torpor that may be the closest thing modern civilization has to the excesses of ancient Rome. Saturating the scene on Bourbon Street are plastic beads, handed or tossed to partygoers as a kind of currency. Some bare their breasts or offer booze in exchange for the tokens; others catch them in the air and wear the layers around their necks.

Roughly 25 million pounds of beads are in circulation annually, making them as much a part of the Fat Tuesday celebration as sugary cocktails and King Cake. Traditions and rituals can be hard to pin down, but Mardi Gras historians believe the idea of distributing trinkets began in the s or s, several hundred years after French settlers introduced the celebration to Louisiana in the s. Party organizers—known locally as krewes —handed out baubles and other shiny objects to revelers to help commemorate the occasion.

In the '70s and '80s aluminum and plastic beads became ubiquitous at Mardi Gras parades. Logically we can assume it's because they're cheaper, easier to mass produce and less likely to injure someone when thrown from a moving vehicle. Despite the fact that a Mardi Gras parade might look like a giant free-for-all, there are actually safety regulations and guidelines for what is and is not permitted! And, it was in the '80s that woman really began to bare their breasts as part of the bead-collecting tradition.

And to this day, breast-bearing for beads is most definitely still a thing, because hey, freethenipple, women should be proud of their bodies so long as they feel safe and free-willed!

By Kaitlyn Wylde. Alongside the people in the parades who were dressed as high-class aristocrats , Rex tossed sugar coated almonds into the crowds. The beads were an instant hit among the crowds of New Orleans residents and visiting Mardi Gras tourists.

It is believed that a man dressed up as Santa Claus was the first person in a New Orleans parade to use the beads in his costume. Other tourists soon followed his lead and they began to decorate themselves with the bead necklaces.

By , over , tourists traveled to New Orleans to participate in the celebration and to get some of their own Mardi Gras beads. Over the years, other Mardi Gras souvenirs have also been passed out to the crowds during the parades such as plastic cups, toys, Frisbees, figurines, and doubloons.