Katrina Beads

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Because we’re approaching the start of Mardi Gras and because I think New Orleans could use all the help it can get right now after hurricane Katrina, I’d like to present some information about Mardi Gras beads and how this often looked-down-upon type of bead jewelry (it’s jewelry, it’s beads!) can produce some good…

Mardi Gras (French for “Fat Tuesday”) is actually meant to be a last celebration in preparation for Ash Wednesday. But what about the beads? Here’s a quick history of the idea of beads at Mardi Gras. The beads and other cheap trinkets were actually a fairly recent development as outlined in this National Geographic story:

According to [Arthur] Hardy, who is considered New Orleans’s unofficial Mardi Gras expert, the tradition of throws dates back to the 1920s. The parades themselves date all the way back to the 1830s.

The parades run throughout Carnival season, which begins on January 6, the Twelfth Night of Christmas, and culminate on Mardi Gras. Each parade is put on by a krewe, and according to Hardy, the Rex krewe began the tradition of throws by tossing out inexpensive necklaces of glass beads.

The beads were an instant hit and were soon adopted by all the parading krewes, of which there are about 60 today … The glass beads of the early throws were imported from Czechoslovakia and Japan. Today the plastic throws are manufactured mostly in China. Krewes, working through a merchant such as Berger, must get their orders and special design requests submitted by September in order to receive their shipment in time for Carnival.

And, no, you don’t have to lift your shirt to receive beads. There are so many parades and so many beads being thrown that it’s almost impossible not thave piles of beads at the end of a visit to New Orleans during Mardi Gras!

The trinkets come in all sorts of colors, but this page explains a lot of the basic questions about Mardi Gras, including the traditional colors:

The colors of Carnival are purple, green and gold, chosen in 1872 by that year’s Rex. The 1892 Rex parade gave the official colors meaning: purple for justice, green for faith and gold for power.

And while those are the official meanings now, the tradition of Mardi Gras, and especially the meaning of the infamous beads may be changing.

How are the meanings of the Mardia Gras beads changing after Hurricane Katrina?

The Mardia Gras of 2006 is the first time New Orleans is really going to get a chance to showcase itself in front of the world after Hurricane Katrina. The beads are playing a special part because a lot of locals are using the Mardi Gras beads as a way of raising money and awareness for the hurricane victims.

Many people are selling Mardi Gras beads as a way of raising money to help the victims of Hurricane Katrina. There are too many organizations to list, but here are a couple of the more well-known efforts:

• Katrinabeads.net - A fund set up to help rebuild the Little Doctor’s Neighborhood Clinic which was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. This is a special story and has been receiving a lot of press.
• Beads for Bayou – an organization which sends you a string of Mardi Gras beads for an American Red Cross donation of $10.
• ReJazz New Orleans - also sending out special Mardi Gras beads for a donation.

There are also some commercial beading ventures involving “Katrina” beads.

• Pandora Jewelry is selling an “Angel of Hope” Katrina bead and making very generous donations to the victims of Hurricane Katrina.
• Our regular readers will remember our post about the Chamilia Katrina Beads.
• Rebekah Musgrove was an employee at a party supply house when Hurricane Katrina swept through and changed her world. In her own words, “I always think up things that we need to have a bead of, and when it hit, I was thinking, ‘We need a Hurricane Katrina bead.’” And she created a special Hurricane Katrina bead and is still actively selling them on eBay. In fact, you can find lots of different Katrina beads on eBay.

I encourage you to visit all of these organization and participate in their programs if you can.

And, finally, what do you DO with all those Mardi Gras beads once the party is over? You can make more bead jewelry out of them, of course!

While today’s cheap plastic bead strands really can’t be taken apart and reused, you can practice your hand at some Mardi Gras bead twisting techniques that are actually carry-overs from balloon twisting games. What?! You don’t know HOW to twist Mardi Gras beads? Don’t worry, I’ve even found a great book entitled, yes, you guessed it “Mardi Gras Bead Twisting!”

Keep on beading!