Beads for needs
Mardi Gras in New Orleans is believed to have started in the 1830s. The first “throws” were introduced in 1872, when sugarcoated almonds were tossed to onlookers by the king of the Krewe of Rex. Throws date back to a custom from Renaissance England. As the popularity of the parades grew toward the end of the 19th century, bringing over 100,000 visitors each season, strings of glass beads became the popular throw. Locals collected them. Visitors took them home as souvenirs. Cheaper to produce and less dangerous to onlookers, plastic beads replaced glass beads in the 1960s.
Like Easter bonnets and Santa hats, Mardi Gras beads should only be worn in season, unless you want to make absolutely clear you are a tourist or conventioneer. Beads, however, can be seen in our trees year round. The trees along St. Charles Avenue, the main parade route, look like a children’s storybook brought to life just after the Mardi Gras season. Errant throws from krewe members on the floats get stuck in the branches and glimmer in gold, red, blue, purple, silver, pink, and green.
Info
Address Behind Gibson Hall (between West and Law Roads, off St. Charles Avenue) on Tulane’s campus | Tip In addition to beads, other Mardi Gras throws include Frisbees, glow-in-the-dark pins, rings, necklaces, balls, plastic swords, mini footballs, fake flowers, plush toys, lace underwear—pretty much anything. The most coveted throws are decorated coconuts, given out by the Zulu krewe, and the highly glittered and glamorized shoes of the Krewe of Muses.
There is one tree behind Gibson Hall on the Tulane campus where the beads are not accidental. To mark the beginning of each new Mardi Gras season, university students, with purpose and resolve, toss shiny new strands onto an oak tree on the academic quad, turning the tree into a colorful monument.
In 2013, Tulane hosted a post-Mardi Gras festivity called the Bead Tree Bonanza. Students and others took the mountains of beads collected during the parades and donated them to Arc Enterprises, a nonprofit that provides employment opportunities to people with developmental disabilities. Participants in Arc are hired every year to sift through and separate the donated beads for reuse the next year. Used beads can be dropped off at the Arc Recycling Center (www.arcgno.org/arc-enterprises).
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