A Brief History of Mardi Gras

A Family Affair
Many Americans associate Mardi Gras with drunken debauchery and women baring their breasts for cheap colored beads. But most of the season's celebrations take place outside of the raucous French Quarter, in family-filled neighborhoods such as the tree-lined Garden District. There, parents and kids await daytime parades, many utilizing modified ladders with seats on top. There, children are ideally positioned to catch beads and other "throws" — plastic coins, stuffed animals, cups, Frisbees, etc. — from passing floats. During Carnival season, tree branches along popular parade routes are often covered with hanging sets of gaudily colored beads.

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