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Throw me Somethin’ Mister!

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photograph from the 1970s in the French Quarter feature a man in a trench coat with a paper mache alligator head in fron to fsome barricade with a police bus and police officers in the background
Mardi Gras in the French Quarter, early 1970’s. Copyright Vernon Terrell

Today is Mardi Gras in New Orleans and I am not there.  Instead I am here in Washington, D.C. at work.  For some reason, this year I’m a little sad about missing all of the festivities.

I have no costume to wear, and no beads or doubloons to catch.  I will not be there to stand on a ladder with a seat for children watching the truck parades, waving as Rex goes by, or yelling “throw me something mister!” as the floats pass by.  I will not be there to marvel over the ensembles created by the Mardi Gras Indians.  But, earlier in the Carnival season I did  have some king cake that I shared with my colleagues, and I do have the opportunity to use a photo taken in the French Quarter by my father some time in the early 1970’s.

Since I did a more business-oriented post last year for Mardi Gras, I thought this year I would provide further information