Test your Mardi Gras Knowledge.......
How many of the following terms do you know?
BALL, CARNIVAL, COLORS, COURT, DEN, DOUBLOONS, FAVOR, INVITATION, KING CAKE, KREWE, MARDI GRAS, TRINKETS.......Ready to find out? Scroll down and see.
Ball - (ball masque, tableau ball) - a themed masked ball, where the Krewe Royalty is presented to the club members. Sorry Cinderella, Mardi Gras balls are usually private affairs and by invitation only. You could get lucky and meet someone in the Krewe who might just invite you! They are usually formal events presided over by the King, Queen and Court, all attired in elaborate costumes.
Carnival - in other areas of the world, Mardi Gras is known as Carnival, from the Latin for "farewell to the flesh" (the Feast of Epiphany to midnight on Fat Tuesday ,the day before Lent).
Colors - colors of Rex: purple, green, and gold. Purple symbolizes justice, green represents faith, and gold equals power.
Court - this is the Mardi Gras King, Queen, Dukes and Duchesses of a Carnival organization. Krewe Babalu started their Royal Court in 1999 with King Baba and Queen "Lu". The following year the Dukes and Duchesses were added. Royal Advisors to the court are the preceding year's King and Queen.
Den - this is the location where the floats are built and stored. A Den Party is traditional the night before the parades start to celebrate the floats.
Doubloons - aluminum objects resembling coins which bear the insignia of the krewe on one side and the theme on the other. Introduced in 1960.
Favor - these are souvenirs given to friends and guest attending the Krewe's ball by members.
Invitation - this term refers to the printed request for attendance to a Carnival ball.
King Cake - a king cake is a traditional Mardi Gras treat, brightly decorated in the colors of Rex: purple, green and gold. The cake, which is similar to a rich sweet bread or coffee cake contains a special surprise - a tiny baby doll contained within one of the slices. Custom dictates that the "lucky" recipient who gets the piece with the baby throws the next Mardi Gras party (or bakes the next King Cake). In our Krewe Babalu, this means that whoever finds the baby gets all the beads on that night. It also means that whoever draws the baby during Epiphany will be the next King and Queen of Krewe Babalu.
Krewe - Mardi Gras is actually the height of the Southern Social season. It is accompanied by endless rounds of formal balls, proceeded over by elaborately costumed courts. Each ball is sponsored by a "krewe" which also foots the bill for a parade or float in a larger parade, depending on the size and budget of the krewe. The word 'krewe" was supposedly chosen to give an "Old English" feel to the clubs. It was first used by the Krewe of Comus in 1857 to name a Carnival organization.
Mardi Gras - also known as Fat Tuesday, is the celebration leading up to lent. Mardi Gras season officially begins on Twelfth Night, or the Feast of the Epiphany, and concludes on Shrove Tuesday, just before Ash Wednesday and the beginning of lent. Traditionally, it is a time of feasting and celebrations before the onset of the upcoming sacrifices. In the old days, and to many Catholics today, this most meant the giving up of meat, hence Mardi Gras or Fat Tuesday, which in years past was known as Boeuf Gras. Boeuf Gras was in homage to the feast of meat (beef) before the culinary austerity of the Lenten season.
From 1872-1901 a live ox graced New Orleans' Rex Parade. Today, a papier mache symbol of Boeuf Gras takes its place.
Trinkets - colorful plastic beads and imprinted aluminum doubloons. Masses of screeching parade enthusiasts, arms outstretched like beggars clamoring for a last meal, beseech Krewe members to throw barrels of trinkets. CAUTION: Mardi Gras parades can cause temporary insanity and people will do things for a worthless piece of plastic that defy reason. So, be prepared to be somewhat aggressive if you want loot!
Oh, so you don't look like a tourist, the proper Mardi Gras parade cheer is "Throw me something Mister!" or better yet: "Krewe Babalu!"