Throw Me Something, Mistuh!
“Throw me something mistuh!”
I started shouting this when I was six or seven years old, dressed in a cotton clown costume. Inside the Garden District of New Orleans, I was standing not too far from my parents and sister on the St Charles Avenue parade route.
Just last year I yelled “Throw me something’” as I ran alongside a green and purple Mardi Gras float, arms waving toward the masked riders. Most parade goers want beads and yell their heads off to be targeted by a masked float rider. Dozens of shiny beads get caught in the branches of the live oaks and crepe myrtles lining the street. Those raised outstretched arms along the route say so much, Gimme, gimme, gimme, Joy! Joy! Joy!
Men and women on the floats ride high above the street crowds. Young ones belted onto decorated ladders that line the street are positioned high enough to see what’s going on and catch a heavy load of beads. Everyone begs for the satisfaction of catching treasures thrown by the masked men or women.
Gaze at the photo of a Rex page in his gorgeous shiny glittery costume. Here you see the young person who is riding the King’s float as page to the king of Carnival, Rex. This page rides on the front right side of Rex’s float during the parade, belted to the float for safety.
Much later when this page goes to the Rex ball, he will be busy following the king around, keeping his 80-foot train straight as the king and queen proceed around the auditorium during the Grand March. He is one of two pages who will enjoy the thrill of the parade ride. Two other pages will also attend the Rex Queen and her train.
Carnival customs abound. From the streets and parades to the many balls that take place, these photos represent brief and colorful Mardi Gras moments.
The cover design of my book includes a 1963 photo of myself as Queen of the Ball of Osiris. Read my book for details!
Marilee Eaves is an author, social worker, Reiki practitioner, labyrinth facilitator, mental health advocate and native New Orleanian. Visit Marilee at www.marileeeaves.com.
Singing Out Loud: A Memoir of an Ex-Mardi Gras Queen
Born during World War II, Marilee Eaves has long struggled to fit into the New Orleans elite—secret Mardi Gras societies that ruled the city—into which she was born. Then, as a student at Wellesley, she’s hospitalized at McLean psychiatric hospital, where she begins to realize how much of herself she’s sacrificed to blend into and be fully accepted by the exclusive and exclusionary white Uptown New Orleans culture to which she supposedly belongs.
In Singing Out Loud, Eaves tells of her journey to stand on her own two feet—to find a way to be grounded and evolved in the midst of that culture. Along the way, she wrestles with bipolar disorder, alcoholism, and the effects of her bad (heartbreaking, and sometimes hilarious) choices. Raw and funny, this book offers hope and encouragement to those willing to be vulnerable, address their issues, and laugh at themself in order to embrace who they truly are.
Category: Contemporary Women Writers, On Writing
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Again I am so grateful that Women Writers, Women’s Books published my piece. Such a boon in getting my book known. Many thanks to all involved including my publicist Stephanie Barko.
Thank you for publishing this piece. I appreciate the opportunity to tell about my book.