Watched parades from a ladder as a kid. Mardi Gras is big as Christmas, New Year's, Thanksgiving, you name it, to a kid. As a high school student, I marched in parades. Lots of parades. We used to go home and watch ourselves on WDSU because they had a camera trained on Royal Street by their studio to capture the passing parades. One year I marched in Rex and Comus both in the same day. That night, my Dad picked me up at Municipal Auditorium and I was completely black from flambeaux soot. He didn't recognize me. I was spent. The week had taken its toll and I stayed in bed for two days. I lost about five pounds that week. That year I marched every night of the week leading up to Mardi Gras weekend and then both parades Mardi Gras day. Mr. Clancy, our band director at East Jefferson had our tuba players go out front of the band and dance in the streets when we marched. All the parades were in the city except for (I think it was Argus, which used to be on Saturday night on Metairie Road before there was an Endymion), when we got to come out to the parish to march. The crowd in Jefferson loved EJ's band. I played with his Dad's jazz band on the nights I wasn't marching with East Jefferson. Clancy's jazz band. That's who I marched with in Rex and Comus. Unforgettable experience. At UNO we were the king's band for the first Bacchus parade when Danny Kaye was Bacchus. We were out in front and I got to watch him dance to everything we played. He was an energetic guy. I have the doubloons for Jackie Gleason and Henry Winkler (when Saturday Night Live did the broadcast from Canal Street) were Bacchus. The Fat Man was legendary as Bacchus.
I found an old plastic bag of doubloons today in a closet. Brought back memories. Didn't know what to do with them but I organized them and laid them out and took a couple pictures.
The Rex doubloons date from the original doubloon in 1960 and I have a couple aluminum models of that one. All my doubloons are aluminum and scrounged from parades. Many of these carnival krewes and clubs no longer exist. Others have taken their place if that's possible and likely it isn't. So many are gone. Carrollton, all twelve miles of it. The first parade in the city on Sunday the week before Carnival. We weren't in shape yet and about half the way through you needed to catch a second wind to finish. Momus, Comus, Venus, Freret, Okeanos, and on and on. All gone.
Anyway, here are some pictures of the doubloons I've kept (in a plastic bag) since 1960. I just may keep them around. They don't take up much room.
I found an old plastic bag of doubloons today in a closet. Brought back memories. Didn't know what to do with them but I organized them and laid them out and took a couple pictures.
The Rex doubloons date from the original doubloon in 1960 and I have a couple aluminum models of that one. All my doubloons are aluminum and scrounged from parades. Many of these carnival krewes and clubs no longer exist. Others have taken their place if that's possible and likely it isn't. So many are gone. Carrollton, all twelve miles of it. The first parade in the city on Sunday the week before Carnival. We weren't in shape yet and about half the way through you needed to catch a second wind to finish. Momus, Comus, Venus, Freret, Okeanos, and on and on. All gone.
Anyway, here are some pictures of the doubloons I've kept (in a plastic bag) since 1960. I just may keep them around. They don't take up much room.
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| From my Aunt Esther's collection, credit: Jeremy Deubler |
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| From my Aunt Esther's collection, credit: Jeremy Deubler |
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| From my Aunt Esther's collection, credit: Jeremy Deubler |
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