Today, Boing Boing posted this amazing home movie of New Orleans Mardi Gras, circa 1941, from the Prelinger Archives of Ephemeral Film, and I just couldn't resist putting it up, since it's Fat Tuesday. Historical photo archives feel like a magic box of candy to me, and video archives are even one step better; this one's especially intoxicating, because it's so rich. The colors, the costumes, the floats ... it's gorgeous.
The last time we tried to go see the Mardi Gras parade, a bunch of drunks threw a giant tree branch at our car as we edged down Chouteau. Against our better judgement, we trekked down to Soulard this Saturday; the whole affair seems to have mellowed out quite a bit, though I'd heard a rumor that one of the krewe floats had tipped over because the drunks riding on it had gotten a little too tip-tip-tipsy. I love the Bannana Bicycle Brigade, and the handmade krewe floats, but for the most part, I felt like I was freezing my buns off to stand on the side of the street and watch a long, boring commercial, including a long line of logo-ed cars associated with various radio stations and corporate businesses. Was it always like this? I don't remember it being so corporate. The problem isn't advertising per se -- parades have long been a forum for that -- it's just that these businesses just slap their logo on an auto and drive it down the parade route. I wasn't surprised to see that you could easily get a front row spot along much of the parade route ... there just wasn't that much to see.
In an interview about tonight's Fat Tuesday parade, Mack Bradley of Mardi Gras Inc. told the Post that, "You don't build a tradition overnight," and I'd agree with that. But by the same token, you gotta be careful about what kinds of brick and mortar you're using to build it, n'est-ce pas? Here's an idea: now that the Missouri Arts Council is nearly $6 million poorer, why don't these corps hire local artists to build build wonderful little rolling fantasias that will really have people riveted to the parade route? I still don't like the idea of the parade as a big long commercial, but at least it would give us something more inspiring to look at, something that, 70 years from now, would have its own spot in the Archive of Ephemeral Film. --Stefene Russell
