[Dixielandjazz] BEADS

[Stephen Barbone]

Tom Woods asks about beads saying: we are not familiar with this "beads"
thing.  Has it got anything to do with Doctor John and/or voodoo??

Hi Tom & List mates:

Mardi Gras beads are thrown to the crowd to by paraders, and by
onlookers in the New Orleans celebration. The object is get as many
strings of beads as you can.

Throwers encourage the crowd to yell; "Hey mister throw me some beads".
The shouters do better than the quiet ones. Also, lifting ones shirt to
attract the bead throwers has also become quite common and bead throwers
encourage it. Thus the "flashers" get more beads than the non flashers.

So, we do that all the time in our presentations. We have different
sizes of beads and give out the "Big Beads" to those who get into the
act. We have fun, the crowd has fun, and we make good money playing
jazz. It just doesn't get any better that that. For a look at Mardi Gras
beads, see http://www.accentannex.com They are a prime supplier of Mardi
Gras merchandise.

Cheers,
Steve Barbone