The E-Sylum:  Volume 9, Number 9, February 26, 2006, Article 10

MARDI GRAS DOUBLOONS REVIVE NEW ORLEANS, COME HELL OR HIGH WATER

Last Sunday, February 19, the Cox News service reported from
New Orleans: "The defiant Mardi Gras doubloon said it all
yesterday: "Come Hell or High Water."

It would take more than the worst natural disaster in U.S.
history to stop this party.

Strings of plastic beads and strains of Dixieland music filled
the air. Gargantuan faces smiled down from passing floats as
sidewalks turned into rivers of hands reaching up for gaudy
trinkets. The crowds -- although smaller than normal -- were
grateful that Mardi Gras 2006 had begun less than six months
since hurricanes laid waste to their city."

"The notion of having a huge party only a few miles from where
whole neighborhoods are still demolished and deserted did not
strike the early revelers as odd.

The parades were a relief to some natives.  "I was so glad to
get back," said Ferdinand Grayson, 96, who was evacuated to
Houston after Katrina and returned only two months ago. "And
I'm so glad we're having Mardi Gras.""

To read the full story, see: Full Story

But are Mardi Gras Doubloons being edged out in popularity by
beads?  A search of news stories shows many more references to
beads than doubloons as party throws in New Orleans.  An
Associated Press story reported: "They're throwing Mardi Gras
beads again - so many strands, they're landing in tree branches
and getting snagged on the trellised balconies of the French
Quarter.

You'll find them adorning the arms of Spanish statues. Tourists
are wearing them, but these days so are contractors and the
National Guard. It's hard to walk on Bourbon Street without
stepping on them. You're likely to crunch them underfoot, long
necklaces of plastic pearls brightening the asphalt."

To read the full story, see: Full Story

  Wayne Homren, Editor

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