PHILADELPHIA
BY PAM GEORGE
STRUTTIN STRUTTIN’ IN THE NEW YEAR
At 5am on New Year’s Day, while many revelers are still sleeping off the champagne, Joe Leso will get up and drive from his home in Gloucester County, New Jersey, to Philadelphia’s Port Richmond section, a predominately Polish neighborhood. At the Columbia Social Club, he will join 59 other musicians who are changing into costumes.
Halloween might have long passed, but you will not know it when you look at them. Among the group are Frankenstein’s monsters, ghosts and ghouls. Leso will portray a mummy. But forget the soiled, tattered linens. His wrappings will sparkle with enough rhinestones and sequins to make Cher envious. “I’ll be a mummerized mummy,” Leso says.
As he has for 28 years, Leso will participate in the Mummers Parade, a much-loved Philadelphia institution. “It’s one thing—besides cheese steaks—that we’re known for,” says Leo Dignam, the parade’s director. Each New Year’s Day, weather permitting, up to 15,000 men, women and teens don lavishly decorated costumes to strut up Broad Street to City Hall, then repeat the performance on Second Street.
The seven-hour spectacle is somewhat hard to describe if you’ve never experienced it. Combine vaudeville with a smattering of Las Vegas review. Stir in all the pomp—but none of the lewdness—of Mardi Gras, and finish with a generous sprinkling of string band musicians, who at any given time will break into the song “O, Dem Golden Slippers.” There are props, floats, dancers, comics and choreographed routines that rival a ’30s Busby Berkeley musical. And everywhere you look there are feathers, rhinestones and sequins.
A LITTLE HISTORY
Though mummery has become linked with Philadelphia, it’s rooted in ancient times. Costumed mummers playing instruments led funeral processions in ancient Egypt. Holiday fêtes in England and Germany allowed people of varying ranks to mingle behind a mask. And in Philadelphia, Swedish settlers in the late 17th century welcomed the New Year with masquerades in the streets. Although legislators tried to dampen the ritual in the early 19th century, the mummers persisted and laws prohibiting activities were abolished. In the 1870s, the uncoordinated neighborhood festivities became a parade, which Philadelphia began sponsoring in 1901. Mummers are members of social clubs with strong community identities, such as the South Philly Vikings or the Polish American String Band. As with fraternal organizations, there are clubhouses, some of which began in row houses and expanded as adjacent properties became available.
PARADE DIVISIONS
The clubs compete in one of four categories: comic, fancy, string band and fancy brigade. Comics are satirists whose themes lampoon politics and social issues.
The fancy division is comprised of elaborately dressed participants—individuals, duos and trios—who move in a whimsical drill.
String bands do more than play the glockenspiel, saxophone and banjo (the mummers’ telltale sound). They perform drills, led by an ornately dressed captain. Music is the main judging component.
The fancy brigade, which must have a minimum of 35 marching members, is judged primarily on costumes, performance, production and overall effect.
The lavish costumes often include six- to eight-foot back pieces that soar two feet above the wearers’ heads, while the fanciful floats require up to 30 people to operate.
Since the fancy brigades stage such elaborate performances, they’re judged in the Pennsylvania Convention Center, where they have ample room to let loose. The other divisions are judged in near City Hall.
LOTS OF HARD WORK
As early as midnight on January 1, clubs may submit next year’s theme. “There are some great ideas out there; each organization tries to put their own spin on it,” says Bob Shannon, Jr., captain for 37 years of the Quaker City String Band.
The Polish American String Band rehearses on Mondays for most of the year, but by October, they rehearse up to three times a week. While some clubs hire costumers to make the entire regalia, clubs like the South Philly Vikings hire a professional to create only the base costume. They then decorate the outfits themselves; members and families glue, paint and sew.
“For two months, we’ll be working eight to 12 hours every night until the parade,” says Mark Moss, a parade marshall who assists costumed members and runs floats.
The overall costume cost is staggering. Shannon says this year’s Polynesian costumes will cost $95,000. The captain’s suit, always more elaborate, can run between $3,000 and $10,000 alone. (Captains take their role-playing seriously. For a Chinese theme, Shannon willingly shaved his head.)
Clearly, the nearly $350,000 in total prize money doesn’t come close to offsetting costs. To raise funds for the floats and costumes, clubs hold carnivals, run stands at sporting events and travel throughout the year for paid performances.
FAMILY TRADITION
For most members, being a mummer is a family tradition. Moss’ daughter is now in the club. (Some clubs allow women, while others still do not.) The family traditions help replenish membership.
In the end, the real prize is not the monetary awards. Instead, it is the strong bonds that mummers have with each other and with the tradition. “It’s always worth it, whether you win or lose,” Moss says.
IF YOU GO:
The Mummers Parade is January 1 at 8:45am. It starts at Broad and Washington streets, running about three miles to City Hall. Judging begins at 9am at 15th and Market streets. Tickets for judging-area seats are $12 and are available at the Independence Visitors Center.
The unofficial parade on Second Street, located near many of the clubhouses, has no official start time. Usually after the main parade, clubs move to Second Street, starting at Washington Avenue, and march south to Oregon Avenue.
>AirTran Airways provides daily, low-fare flights to Philadelphia.
IF YOU CAN’T MAKE THE MUMMERS PARADE…
you can still get a glimpse of all the glitz and glamour that surrounds the pageantry. The Mummers Museum, opened in 1976, is dedicated to Philadelphia’s favorite celebrants of the New Year. The main attraction at the museum is the collection of magnificent costumes, a rich array of sequins, feathers and rhinestones. Exhibits include a captain’s cape that dates back to 1907, and you’ll see some of the best-dressed skeletons, witches, Shakespearean characters, and even chickens around. Along with viewing prize-winning costumes, visitors can also purchase CDs, DVDs and other distinctive mummer memorabilia.
Mummers Museum
1100 S Second St
215-336-3050
www.mummersmuseum.com