WWTBAM Bored

My first time attending, and hopefully not the last one; due to the budget crisis the city is backing out of paying for police OT, etc, and last-minute private contributions saved this year's parade.

Here is an idea of how it looks like:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jacorbett7 ... 027051094/

Christie1111 would be happy with Flickr's random choice of the 'representative' photo of the set. Too bad the game did not go as well as hoped.

Snaxx

jacorbett70 wrote:My first time attending, and hopefully not the last one; due to the budget crisis the city is backing out of paying for police OT, etc, and last-minute private contributions saved this year's parade.

Here is an idea of how it looks like:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jacorbett7 ... 027051094/

Christie1111 would be happy with Flickr's random choice of the 'representative' photo of the set. Too bad the game did not go as well as hoped.

Snaxx

Where were the USC fans? There must be at least one or two in Philly?

WGN AMERICA will televise the string band portion of the Mummers Parade on Saturday, January 3, from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. (1-3 p.m. Central).

I've mentioned the Mummers here and in chat and people have asked about them. So, some background:

The Mummers, one of America's longest-running folk festivals, trace their roots back to Philadelphia's Swedish immigrants in the late 1600s, who brought in the new year by dancing in the street as they rang bells and pounded pots to frighten away the devils.

Each ethnic group added its own traditions-- most of which included men dressing up in their wives' dresses. By the late 1860s, the celebrations were neighborhood parades. Soon, the neighborhoods began to compete against each other; in 1901, they merged into a city-wide parade.

The formal parade has been canceled only twice since 1901 -- in 1919 and in 1934. Snow and high winds -- which mean havoc for the costumes -- have postponed, but never cancelled, the parade.

The parade runs almost three miles from South Philadelphia to Center City and has about 15,000 participants.

There are four divisions -- comics, fancy, string bands and fancy brigades. The comics and fancy divisions have three or four “parent clubs”; there is a captain’s presentation for each parent club, followed by smaller groups and individual themed costumes within those parent clubs.

The comics satirize current events, TV or movies using costumes and small floats, with recorded music or small groups of musicians. The wenches are the last groups of the comic division to strut up Broad Street and are the direct line to those immigrants in their wives' dresses.

The fancy division is series of small floats, some wheeled, some not - all with a person inside - and elaborate plumed costumes with recorded music or live musicians.

There are 18 string bands, the most popular section of the parade. They descend from neighborhood factory workers playing banjos and accordions on their days off. String bands are limited to unamplified strings, reeds, and percussion -- banjos, saxophones, accordions, bass viols, drums, glockenspiels and violins.

Each string band has a theme – I guarantee the members are meeting this weekend to think of their 2010 themes – and the music and costumes must relate to the theme. The orchestrations are usually done by band members and some are pretty intricate.

Until the early 1970s or so, the bands drilled in straight lines alternating and joining, etc. Since then, the bands have done more elaborate routines, allowing freedom in the dances and more variation in the costumes.

The fancy brigades march through South Philadelphia then peel off for their performances at the Pennsylvania Convention Center. They are an offshoot of the fancy division, whose gigantic sets just become too much for outdoors.

The Mummers themselves come from every walk of life. The captain of the Greater Kensington String Band is a gas mechanic for the electric company; the captain of one of the fancy divisions is a noted veterinarian.

Some of the costume shops and places that build the fancy division floats, props for the string bands and sets for the fancy brigades are owned by former Mummers -- construction workers who retired and use their skills to construct props and costumes.

On New Year's night, the bands and comics hold an after-parade on Two Street, which is about a mile-long stretch of Second Street from the Pennsport neighborhood down to South Philadelphia, where many of the groups have their clubhouses. Some people never bother with the regular parade and just wait for the Two Street party.

Unlike other parades, there's no corporate sponsorship. However, with the economic changes, this is changing somewhat, with the Mummers association looking into fundraising options since the city money is no more. The prize money from the city helped defray costs but never covered them.

The club members pay dues and pay for their own costumes. String bands play fundraising gigs and hold a couple beef-and-beer fundraisers throughout the year.

There is also the annual Show of Shows in Atlantic City’s Boardwalk Hall. This year it’s Feb. 28.

I will post some more pictures later.

Thanks for the fascinating report, Melly! But now you've got me curious:

mellytu74 wrote: The formal parade has been canceled only twice since 1901 -- in 1919 and in 1934. Snow and high winds -- which mean havoc for the costumes -- have postponed, but never canceled, the parade.

I presume the 1919 parade was canceled because of the Spanish Flu epidemic, but why was it canceled in 1934? That was hardly the worst of the depression years.

MarleysGh0st wrote:Thanks for the fascinating report, Melly! But now you've got me curious:

mellytu74 wrote: The formal parade has been canceled only twice since 1901 -- in 1919 and in 1934. Snow and high winds -- which mean havoc for the costumes -- have postponed, but never canceled, the parade.

I presume the 1919 parade was canceled because of the Spanish Flu epidemic, but why was it canceled in 1934? That was hardly the worst of the depression years.

As far as I know, Marley, it was economics. That what TLAF told me -- her brother, my Uncle Felix, became a Mummer when he was 14 or 15 and that was the end of the 1930s.

ulysses5019 wrote:

jacorbett70 wrote:My first time attending, and hopefully not the last one; due to the budget crisis the city is backing out of paying for police OT, etc, and last-minute private contributions saved this year's parade.

Here is an idea of how it looks like:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jacorbett7 ... 027051094/

Christie1111 would be happy with Flickr's random choice of the 'representative' photo of the set. Too bad the game did not go as well as hoped.

Snaxx

Where were the USC fans? There must be at least one or two in Philly?

Maybe all of them flew out to the game!

mellytu74 wrote:

MarleysGh0st wrote:Thanks for the fascinating report, Melly! But now you've got me curious:

mellytu74 wrote: The formal parade has been canceled only twice since 1901 -- in 1919 and in 1934. Snow and high winds -- which mean havoc for the costumes -- have postponed, but never canceled, the parade.

I presume the 1919 parade was canceled because of the Spanish Flu epidemic, but why was it canceled in 1934? That was hardly the worst of the depression years.

As far as I know, Marley, it was economics. That what TLAF told me -- her brother, my Uncle Felix, became a Mummer when he was 14 or 15 and that was the end of the 1930s.

Cool history of the parade, Melly. Had there been snow, rain, etc, they would have postponed this year's parade to the weekend.