NOLA Mardi Gras History: Mardi Gras Marching/Walking Clubs
NOLA Mardi Gras History: Mardi Gras Marching/Walking Clubs
Rex, King of Carnival, rides on a yacht and a float. Zulu the King also rides a float, and has arrived for Carnival in the past on a barge on the New Basin Canal. The "Super Krewes" ride huge double- and triple-section floats with the finest in artwork and state-of-the-art, fiber optic lighting.
Jefferson City Buzzards art poster (Photo Credit: jeffersoncitybuzzards.com)
Then, on the other hand, some folks just like to walk on Carnival Day.
Jefferson City Buzzards walking down St. Charles Avenue, Mardi Gras Day, 1925. (Photo Credit: Franck photo, HNOC)
The marching clubs got their start in the neighborhoods of Uptown New Orleans. Men watched the "elites" of the parading krewes of the late 19th Century and wanted to be a formal part of Fat Tuesday activities. In 1890, men from the Jefferson City section of uptown formed the "Jefferson City Buzzards." The group ambled through the back streets of uptown, eventually making their way to St. Charles Avenue to entertain the crowds waiting for Rex and his krewe.
"The Reign of Ali Bey" marching club on St. Charles Avenue, 1924. (Photo Credit: Mendes photo, HNOC)
The marching clubs don't usually have an annual theme. Many of the men wear a costume for several years. The clubs hire brass bands to accompany them as they dance down the street. The brass band marching with the "Reign of Ali Bey" in 1925 is visible above. Notice the streetcars along St. Charles Avenue, even though the Carnival crowds are out in full force. Nowadays, NORTA only operates the St. Charles line along S. Carrollton Avenue, then to St. Charles and Napoleon.
Jefferson City Buzzards Hall on Annunciation Street. (Photo Credit: Wikimedia commons)
The marching clubs expanded and grew into something more than just a Carnival gathering. The Buzzards built this hall on Annunciation Street as a year-round headquarters. More clubs formed over the years, the Corner Club (founded in 1918) and the Lyons (1946) still march, honoring the memories of clubs such as the Delachaise and Zig-Zag. In more recent years, other clubs have organized, most notably Mondo Kayo in 1996.
Poster commemerating Pete Fountain's Half Fast Walking Club. (Photo Credit: petefountainmusic.blogspot.com)
The best-known of the marching clubs is Pete Fountain's "Half-Fast Walking Club." Formed in 1961 and led by world-renown jazz clarinetist Pete Fountain, the club was originally called "Half-Assed." The name was almost immediately changed to its current form, but the joke remains. Fountain and his friend have always maintained they are a "walking" rather than a "marching" club, because they've never really been able to march.
The Half-Fast Walking Club starts their Fat Tuesday morning at Commander's Palace restaurant on Washington Avenue in the Garden District. They head out from Commander's, making their way to St. Charles Avenue, then Canal Street and into the Quarter and Bourbon Street. The club used to wind up at Fountain's night club at the Hilton Hotel, but Pete no longer plays there. In addition to the long strands of beads and paper flowers handed out by most marching clubs, the Half-Fasters also throw their signature copper-colored doubloons. Pete and his friends also usually have a common theme and matching costumes.
Turnbull Doubloon from Metairie. (Photo Credit:Wikimedia Commons)
Just as Carnival parades made their way to the suburbs, so did the marching clubs. The Turnbull Social and Carnival Club was founded at a Metairie watering hole on Turnbull Drive, near the old (1960s-70s) Metairie Road parade route. The Turnbulls marched just before the Krewe of Zeus, the first (and oldest) of the Metairie krewes. The Metairie marching clubs now focus on the suburb's St. Patrick's and St. Joseph's Day celebrations.
TAFLUMA Marching Club, Fat City, 1979.
In the late 1970s and early 1980s, the author was privileged to be a member of the TAFLUMA Marching Club. The core membership of the club was a group of fraternity brothers from the University of New Orleans chapter of Lambda Chi Alpha. TAFLUMA was unable to get a permit to parade independently, in either the city or Jefferson Parish, so the club attached itself to the Krewe of Pegasus as a marching unit in that parade. In addition to the formal march with Pegasus, the club did a costumed pub crawl through "Fat City."
The 610 Stompers marching in the Krewe of Carrllton parade, 2011.
As city and parish government moved to consolidate parade routes and activities in the late 1980s, many marching clubs took the simpler route of affiliating with parade krewes. The krewes pay for marching units to accompany them, which helps the marching clubs financially. Some parading organizations, such as the Krewe d'Etat, have their own marching groups, while others hire groups such as the "610 Stompers" (photo above). The combination of the independent-marching clubs as well as those who march with parades ensures that the tradition started with the Buzzards will continue into the future.
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