The Phunny Phorty Phellows first appeared
on Fat Tuesday, 1878, when they began
the tradition of following the Rex parade.
Since that time, the Phunny Phorty Phellows
have made distinguished themselves as
one of the liveliest additions to Mardi
Gras with their hijinks and well-meaning
mockery of the day’s events (one
1881 float depicted Rex’s traditional
symbol, the Boeuf Gras, as a heifer).
The original Phunny Phorty ceased parading
and ultimately disbanded in 1885.
In 1981, 83 years after their predecessors’
last parade, a new group of Phellows emerged
to revive the irreverent tradition as
members of the Krewe of Clones (the impetus
of today’s wildly ribald Krewe du
Vieux).
In 1982 the Phunny Phorty Phellows became
the official heralds of Mardi Gras with
their Twelfth Night ride in a traditional
New Orleans streetcar announcing that,
at last, the pre-Lenten season of “phun
and phrivolity” had arrived.
Humor and whimsy are still very much a
part of the Phunny Phorty tradition with
some members favoring costumes inspired
by current events and the peculiarities
of local culture. Masked revelers gather
at the streetcar barn in Uptown New Orleans
for the Twelfth Night ride and get into
the spirit of the event by carrying signs
and banners with humorous slogans and
messages. There are champagne toasts and
second line dancing as the sounds of the
famous Storyville Stompers New Orleans
Brass Band fill the air; the Phellows,
after cutting a ribbon and announcing,
“It’s Carnival Time!”
then board a decked-out party streetcar.
While on their merry way, the Phellows
and other revelers sip champagne, eat
King Cake, dance and let fly with the
very first beads of the Mardi Gras season.
There are two King Cakes used for this
phirst night phrolic, one for the female
members and one for the gents. Custom
dictates that whoever takes the slices
containing the plastic Carnival babies
are declared Queen and Boss Phellow for
the year.
Mardi Gras 2006 will mark the 25th year
that the Phellows have kept up this Mardi
Gras tradition. Phellows and revelers
will board at the RTA streetcar barn,
located on Carrollton Avenue at Willow
Street, at 6:20 p.m. on Twelfth Night,
Friday, January 6th, 2006. (***This
year the ride will occur on the Canal
St. to Riverfront streetcar route***).
The Phunny ride will begin at 7:00 p.m.
The streetcar, which, traditionally, is
still bedecked in it’s yuletide
dressings, will leave the station for
a route that will take the partying Phellows
uptown to the Lee Circle turnaround and
then back to the barn. You can’t
miss the streetcar, it’s the one
with the really noisy party inside and
a big sign hanging from it reading: “It’s
Carnival Time!”
In this first post-Katrina Mardi Gras,
“It will be an honor to welcome
Carnival time at last,” says the
Phunny Phorty Captain.
All this revelry is in keeping with the
motto printed on a Phunny Phorty Phellows
1896 bulletin:
“A little
nonsense now and then is relished by the
best of men!”
Compiled by A. Pustanio
mardigrasparadeschedule.com
