Beard of the Week LXXII: Mardi Gras
Today's beard belongs to the attractive gentleman in the leather coat enjoying street festivities during Mardi Gras, 2002, in the Latin Quarter of New Orleans. I might add that the Fu Manchu mustache his companion wears is certainly not chopped liver.* I'm particularly enchanted by the sign for The Wishing Well LaunDRYteria.
Fu-Manchu man seems to have a good collection of "throw beads" going. I had trouble finding good information but the story seems to be that "throw beads" were "traditionally" thrown from floats in Mardi Gras parades in New Orleans when people called out "throw me something". Why they might call that out I don't really see, but this is how traditions go.
Of later vintage, however, the tradition seems to be that one increases ones collection of throw beads by exposing something to would-be throwers, breasts for the girls, dicks for the boys. I know this must be a popular "tradition" because I saw quite a number of nervous types explaining to other nervous types that it most definitely was not part of the real tradition and certainly not a requirement. Obvious sanctimonious spoil sports.
Mardi Gras is not in my canon of traditional observations, probably because it's strongly related to the religious observation of Lent, and not particularly noticed during my midwestern upbringing.
Some commenters seemed of the opinion that Mardi Gras was invented in New Orleans, but of course it's a much older tradition from Europe (otherwise known as "Carnival" in Italy and "Fasching" in Germany), largely associated with Catholicism but certainly not exclusively.
Lent, of course, is a period of fasting in those traditions, a time when partying was not allowed and certain foods were banned. Thus the day before Lent began was the obvious time to whoop it up and get rid of all those rich, soon-to-be forbidden foods.
So, although I don't observe Lenten restrictions I can definitely get behind the idea of a good party. Happy Mardi Gras!
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* I"m amusing myself by trying to imagine how this sentence would mean to non-English readers after being translated literally by google. I can't, of course, but I can try.
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on Wednesday, 25 February 2009 at 18.48
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I have a lecture for my students in histology (a med school class) where I discuss the men who discovered the structures named for them. I have a lovely beard joke woven throughout! Go here http://www.joannelovesscience.com/famous_scientists.html and click on the eponymously yours powerpoints (two of them–scroll through and enjoy!)