Wednesday, January 12, 2005

Mobile Mardi Gras Museum Sneak Peek

Darwin Singleton from WPMI NBC 15 has done several stories over the past couple of day about the new Mobile Mardi Gras Museum. It has been a long time coming and the museum is expected to open later this year. However, during Mardi Gras there will be three days where people can get a sneak peek.

One thing that has not yet been reported is the fact the Wayne Dean, my father, who potrays Chief Slac in the Joe Cain parade will be donating his costume to the museum. This will be Wayne's 20th year leading the Joe Cain procession.


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1/11 - Mardi Gras Museum: MAMGA Memories



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1/11 -- Mardi Gras Museum: Glorious Garments



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1/10 -- Mardi Gras Museum: Floats & Fun



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Mobile Carnival Museum
Last Update: 1/10/2005 6:27:41 PM
Posted By: Sabrina Geiger

Tuesday, January 11, 2005

Mardi Gras News

Burch & Hatfield Formal Shops Inc., one of the oldest and largest formalwear businesses in Mobile is closing down for good.

Story from the Mobile Register.

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Tails' end
Sunday, January 09, 2005
GEORGE TALBOT
Business Reporter



Mardi Gras is really early this year. Want to know why.

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'It's time to throw'
Carnival's early arrival has some scrambling
Saturday, January 08, 2005
By ROY HOFFMAN
Staff Reporter



The Mobile Register's write up of the first Dauphins Island parade.

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Mardi Gras to kick off with a visit from Elvis
Friday, January 07, 2005
By RUSS HENDERSON
Staff Reporter

Monday, January 10, 2005

Wanna Bee Brunch and Striper's Royalty

We had our annual Wanna Bee Club luncheon today but we did change a few of our normal rituals in our ongoing efforts to separate ourselves from the other organization that most of us are involved in. We all met at TP Crockmiers for lunch. They had a case of Balatorie which we finished within a few hours. It was a terrific turnout. All of our members were there with the exception of Ruth who was out of town and Charlotte and Toy who were on a bus trip. Dorothy was there because we are considering her for membership and so far I think that she fits in great with the rest of us.

Around 1:45 I had to leave to attend the Mystic Stripers Societie's annual Queen's party. I am a past queen and alway try to attend any events that I am invited to. It was really nice. There were around 17 past queens there. We received a really nice Mardi Gras pin in a small gold chest with a queen's coin. They called us each to the front and gave us a red rose and took a ton of pictures.

After leaving there I met back up with the Wanna Bees who were just finishing up purchasing our bead for the year. This has been a tradition for a while. After the brunch everyone goes shopping for a nice bead for the year. We then went over to our other hangout where they had another case of Balatorie waiting for us. We stayed there for several hours and some of the guys joined us. After that the few of us that were left went to the Executive for a few more drinks. I made it home and to bed around 10:30.









Mardi Gras Begins

The Krewe de la Dauphine parade kicked off the Mardi Gras season on Saturday in Dauphin Island. The morning was dreary and raining lightly. We setup camp in the median and tailgated for several hours waiting on the parade. By parade time the rain had stopped and the KDLD rolled on time presenting their chosen them for the year. The theme was a Tribute to Elvis with floats reflecting many of Elvis' famous hit songs like 'Jailhouse Rock' and 'Viva Las Vegas'.

Saturday night I went to my first ball of the season, the Etruscans. The Etruscans is a non-parading couples group. They celebrated their 55th annual ball with their theme 'Remember When'. A lot of the non-parading groups, especially the older ones entertain the guests with skits performed during their tableaux. The tableaux began with the introduction of the organization's honorary, associate and non-active members. Honorary members are ones that have been a member of the organizations for a specified number of years and no longer participate in costume. Associates are members that are waiting to move up and participate in costume. Most organizations have honorary, active and associate members. Some have other member statuses and in the Etruscans they have inactive members. I was told by a member that this status are members who no longer want to be costumed and don't participate in the organization anymore. This is similar to honorary but honorary members still participate in meetings and functions they just don't wear a costume the night of the ball.

The Etruscans looked back to ball gone by with the introduction of a visiting queen and jester. This was a annual practice in the society in the early days. Several blackcoat carrying letters spelling out the name of the organization came out onto the dance floor to present the name as was the practice in the early days. However, when the letters were turned over the name was spelled out backwards. Everyone started laughing and most people thought it was done on purpose but after speaking with the King I learned that is was not. The skits included the presentation of various famous leaders in history both fictional and non-fictional. Once all of these couples were on the floor the men did a dance to 'Men in Tights' song. It was really funny. Another group called out one by one and did a promote showcasing the seasons. The ladies had fabulous headpieces on. They included the snow queen, Ms Mardi Gras and Santa's helper. Another group portrayed black cats, witches and even the devil himself. The stage curtains opened up and exposed a old time military theme. The Queen was sitting at a small table with no King. The King flew in, well rolled in, in a old time military plane to join his waiting Queen. The Queen was dressed all in white with a beautiful collar. Her train was all in white but really plain. It had a lot of dates embroidered on it I guess maybe kids birthdays and such but all the embroidery was not centered. I stayed at the ball until almost the end and enjoyed seeing all of my friends some of whom I had not seen since last Mardi Gras. Before leaving I walked back into the main arena and sat down to watch the people dancing in front of the beautiful stage backdrop. I was very happy sitting their because Mardi Gras is finally here.