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There will be music and food at Buzzy’s Country Store tomorrow evening as we celebrate Mardi Gras. But today you get to do your homework and learn about the history of Mardi Gras.
Of course we usually associate it with New Orleans:
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However, there are some claims that the event’s origins go back to the Romans’ celebration of their springtime festival Saturnalia (click here.) Later when the whole Lent/Ash Wednesday thing made its appearance, the event became known for having one last party and feast before Lent commenced the following day. It appears that the religious organizers of Lent were smart enough to know that they couldn’t outlaw the partying entirely so they compromised by saying “OK we will let you do your thing tonight, but tomorrow you got to repent and do so for the next 40 days.”
Today Mardi Gras is celebrated all around the world. And yes, most all of those events involve parades, costumes, partying etc. (click here.)
But now for the Mardi Gras history that I know you have been waiting for – how did that tradition of women showing off their breasts for beads start?
It has to do with the throwing of beads from the parade floats to the people who most represented the spirit of Mardi Gras (click here.)
As for how the breasts-for-beads thing got started and evolved, here is a good video discussion of it (click here.) And no, it is not that women are giving up wearing bras for Lent.
In telling folks about Buzzy’s Mardi Gras party the past couple weeks, nearly everyone has asked me if we are passing out beads for the women to show off their breasts. My response has been “Are you kidding? I’m giving out beads for them to leave their shirts on!”
Anytime I hear anything about Mardi Gras, this Paul Simon song will run thru my mind: