New Orleans Mardi Gras

New Orleans Mardi Gras is Mardi Gras in New Orleans, Louisiana, one of the most famous Carnival celebrations.

Beads

Inexpensive strings of beads and toys have been thrown from floats to parade-goers since at least the late 19th century. Until the 1960s, the most common form was multi-colored strings of glass beads made in Czechoslovakia. These were supplanted by cheaper and less fragile plastic beads, first from Hong Kong, then from Taiwan, and more recently from China. Lower-cost beads and toys allow riders to purchase much greater quantities, hence throws have become more numerous and common.

Related Topics:
19th century - 1960s - Glass - Czechoslovakia - Plastic - Hong Kong - Taiwan - China

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In the 1990s, many people lost interest in small, cheap beads, often leaving them where they landed on the ground. Larger, more elaborate metallic beads and strands with figures of animals, people, or other objects have become the sought-after throws.

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