A little Fun Fact About

New Orleans is known for many things, but for most one thing always comes to mind. Yes, that’s right Mardi Gras! A beautiful event where “parades, masked balls, and the indulgence of food and alcohol” takes place. One thing that is usually associated with Mardi Gras is the beads! Colorful strands of plastic beads that get thrown out into the crowds for people to adorn themselves with for the night. They get stuck in the trees, hang on the branches, and litter the streets. But their beautiful metallic glow gives the city a charm that will be seen through-out the year. Most of us have some of these beads, hanging on our bed frame, or tucked away in a box somewhere never to be let go. Because obviously we earned them! It took work! Especially the big ones or the more unique ones in the bunch. I personally have a box full of my favorite ones that I have collected through out the years.

Now if you were to go ask your grandmother or by now possibly great grandmother, I’m sure she also has a few tucked away in a box somewhere or possibly sitting in her jewelry box. But hers might look a little different compared to yours. This is because those beads will be made of glass! Up until the 1980’s Mardi Gras beads were made from glass beads from Czechoslovakia. Who knew!

Czechoslovakia has been known for centuries for glass bead making. Here is a cool link to a website for more information about the history of Czechoslovakian bead making,

The History of Czech Glass Beads - Artbeads Blog .

They make beautiful glass beads that have been know for perfection. But when some of these beads do not meet the standards and are not anything but perfect, they were thrown into a box. These beads were later then restrung into necklaces and sold around the world as carnival beads. And one of the consumers and probably the biggest was New Orleans for their famous Mardi Gras celebration!

In the early days, these glass beads were strung into a simple pattern. The intention was for the carnival beads could be worn as actual jewelry. The necklaces were a rare trinket to receive at Mardi Gras. If people were lucky, they received one or two from the parade. Not like today where you come back with beads up to your ears. As the years passed glass beads were still given out but once the 1940’s came around the necklaces were no longer cute simple designs that resemble costume jewelry but more of a chaotic bundle of glass beads strung together. Because the carnival beads had become so popular more were produced which left less time for a strategic design. But still the carnival beads were a beautiful treasure to take home from a day at the Mardi Gras parade. By the time, the 1980’s came around the glass beads had switched to plastic ones and now the only way you can get your hands on some of those cool beads is at an antique store, Etsy or Ebay. Once a gift handed out now these little beauties go for about ten dollars a strand. But definitely worth the money if you want to have a little old treasure with such an interesting past! Who knew such a simple object had so much history! If you are now wanting to have a few antique Mardi Gras beads for your self I attached links for you to click and purchase some. And do not forget to tell all your friends and family the cool history behind your newfound timeless treasure. I’m sure they will be as surprised as you and I were about this little interesting fact!

• Etsy Link to beads

• Etsy Link to another bead vendor

• Esty Link to more bead vendors!

• Ebay link to find beads