First Women in Uptown

First women join Uptown String Band

By BARBARA J. ISENBERG
Bucks County Courier Times
Part of an occasional series.

Growing up, Amanda Ettinger had a rather unconventional answer to the question, "What do you want to be when you grow up?"

"I always answered, 'I want to be a Mummer,'" said Ettinger, who is from a family full of Mummers. "And unfortunately at the time, that wasn't a possibility, but I figured if I hung in there someday, someday [I could be a Mummer, too]."

The Uptown String Band in Hulmeville made that someday for Ettinger and three other women in late September when the band voted to accept women for the first time. Ettinger came from the Durning String Band in New Jersey. Kim Miller, Diana Miller and Laura Hopkins all transferred to Uptown from the Irish-American String Band.

Traditionally an all-male performance art, Mummery has been a Philadelphia tradition since Jan. 1, 1901, according to www.mummers.com. Even before the American Revolution, there were reports of "rowdy groups 'parading' on New Year's Day," the Web site says.

But those groups didn't include women until the late 1980s, when the first bands began opening their doors to both sexes. "At the turn of the century, I don't think anyone entertained the notion of allowing a woman to walk that far [up Broad Street for the New Year's Day Parade]," Ettinger, a dancer in the band, surmised. "I don't think they thought we had the fortitude."

On Saturday, women played instruments or danced in roughly half of the 16 string bands at the Philadelphia String Band Association's Show of Shows in Atlantic City. The top three bands in the New Year's Parade - Fralinger, Quaker City and Ferko - are still all-male. As they donned feathers, sequins and instruments to strut their stuff at Boardwalk Hall, Uptown members talked about the transition in the band over the past few months.

"The first time we had the girls on the bus it was like, 'Well, we all have to watch what we say'," Jim Gutekunst of Villanova said with a laugh. "That first trip was apprehensive, but it was fine after that. They just had to accept us."


The band's first vote in May on whether to accept women was voted down by one vote.
"Despite the fact that the band was literally split earlier in the year on whether they wanted women in the band, you would be hard pressed to find the 18 that voted against it," Ettinger said Saturday.

"The guys who voted against it in May, they're fine with it now," Gutekunst agreed. "Most of their objections were that they joined because it was all male and they just didn't want it to change." Declining membership in the band was the reason for the consideration, said band President Vince Sannelli.

"It got to the point where we were losing Mummers," Sannelli said. "We felt it was time to open the doors to everybody." Kim Miller, who is not related to Diana Miller, had waited for those doors to open. "I kept asking all year, 'When are you voting, when are you voting?'" she said. "I had helped them out a few times last year and really wanted to join as a playing member."

When that chance finally came, it was smooth sailing for the men to get acclimated to performing with women, band members said. "It was no big deal," Steve Schrader of Bensalem said. "It was easy to do." Mark Gallagher of Falls agreed. "It really hasn't made much of a difference," he said. "The more people here, the better."

Diana Miller, who plays the baritone saxophone, said for the women the transition has been easy, but maybe less so for the men. "The guys, I think, are really still getting used to it," she said. "But they've accepted us as one of the guys, which is what you gotta do in the Mummer world."

2006 Mummers Show of Shows

2006 Mummers Show of Shows

Well I have come back from Atlantic City and have had time to recoup somewhat. The Show of Shows is basically the New Year's Day parade, but inside, and it only consists of the String Band division. Here is how the Show of Shows works. Friday, all the different bands show up and set their area for costumes and instruments, a place to rest in between shows, and also has a place to eat, drink, and socialize. After everything is set up, you are free to visit friends, socialize, and most importantly and arguably the highlight of the weekend, participate in the greatest Mum Jam Secessions in the world!

Saturday comes and everyone again arrives and is assigned a time to go out on the floor and do a practice run of their routine, working out any issues they might have such as spacing, missing props, and people forgetting a step or two. Then they head back to their areas and have some breakfast and are able to mingle with people from different string bands. The line up for the bands goes as follows the last place association band then the 5th place band, 15th place band then 6th place band and so on. The top four bands go last in order from 4th to 1st. The bands then have time to get ready and practice there music and routine in what we call the PIT (simply nothing more than a roped off area for rehearsal) before they go out and perform for the audience. After one band goes out of the pit and onto the floor another band is waiting to go in and this continues until all the bands have finished and the first show is history. The Top four bands have the privilege of marching down the center isle of the bands different areas; we affectionately call this "The Corn Fields". All the members come out from their areas and watch and cheer for the top 4 bands as they march down the cornfields, serenading their fellow mums. After you return from doing your routine, it's lunchtime, and then the real fun begins.



Everyone goes from area to area to say hello, take pictures, and sometimes if your lucky, a JAM SESSION will break out. Jam Secessions are a great and intrigal part of the Mummers Tradition. Since judging music on New Years Day deals with your blend of musicians, jam secessions are a chance for Mummers to really showcase their talent. Saxophone players adding runs to simple tunes showing little or no effort, banjo players making solos using a concept called chord melody shows their expertise of their instrument, drummers shine, and if you’re lucky enough, you may even see a bass player soloing while standing on top of his/her instrument, all during a typical Mummers Jam Secession! These are the times that we MUMS really cherish. Competitors all under one roof, getting along and playing in harmony together while the eyes of many young potential Mums look on. This proves that we are really brothers and sisters in this tradition. We are competitors only one day a year, and only for 4 minutes and 30 seconds. Before you know it, the second show is being prepped for. The process of playing your music and doing your routine in the PIT begins again. Then we all go back to are areas and get some more food and talk and party for the rest of the night.


You really have to be apart of a string band to get the full effect. After all is said and done, you talked to friends you haven't seen in a while, you make new ones, you come home with many memories, pictures, and video. The Show of Shows is just as important as New Years Day itself. Any mummer will tell you that. The Shows are a great part of this tradition we call Mummery. It is an experience that bonds you to your band, and makes your fellow Mummers more than band mates and friends. It is a weekend like this that allows you to invite new people into your family. Guaranteed, Mummers are great people to be related to, weather it be by blood or by music. The Show of Shows is truly a great time in the mummer community.

Musicians Tuning up again

Musicians tuning up again
By Barbara J. Isenberg

Step, cross, step, heel. Back the other way: step, cross, step, heel. “But this time you're going to add a jump,” dance instructor Lorraine Speziale said to the dozen dancers behind her. “So it's jump, over, jump, heel.”

The group followed expertly, quickly adding on a variety of turns, claps and line changes. The dancers, members of the Hulmeville Uptown String Band, practiced Sunday morning for the annual Show of Shows in Atlantic City on Feb. 18.

Not two months after the Mummers Parade up Broad Street in Philadelphia on New Year's Day, the Uptown String Band is back at it again, adding more music and choreography to its “Bum's the Word” routine. “We get to add three and a half minutes of routine for the Show of Shows,” band president Vince Sannelli said as he watched the dancers practice. “We've got a total of three weeks to get ready for the show and we already did the music. This is our first weekend to do the dancing.”

Is three weeks enough time to get ready for the eight-minute performance?

“Absolutely,” Sannelli said. “We'll be ready.”

Every winter, the Show of Shows features all 16 Mummers string bands performing an expanded version of their New Year's routines. For the Uptown String Band's “Bum's the Word” theme this year, dancers and musicians dress in elaborate, colorful “rags” decorated with glitter, gold trimmings and flower pots for hats.

Steve Rapone, a Yardley resident who's been involved with the group for four years as a banjo player, was learning choreography for the first time Sunday. “This is my first time dancing, but it's OK,” he said. “(Speziale) is keeping it pretty simple, so it's good.”

Outside, in the parking lot of the William Penn Fire Co. on Trenton Avenue, the musicians practiced “Happy Days Are Here Again” on banjos, accordions, saxophones, drums, bass fiddles and tambourines. Amanda Ettinger, who plays the bass drum and is also a dancer, is one of the first four women the string band has ever accepted. She got some ribbing from the guys on Sunday, but she took it all in stride. “They were a little thrown by having a girl in the mix,” she said of her first practice last fall. “But they're treating me like one of the guys, which I guess is a good thing.”

Winter Fest Parade

Saturday was our first parade of the New Year. The New Hope Winter Fest Parade. We arrived at the parade and quickly got dressed, tuned our instruments, and lined up in our parade formation. While waiting in line we taught a couple young girls how to do the mummers strut, needless to say they were naturals. Then it was time for us to move out of the parking lot and begin the parade. As we marched down the street there was a good crowd of people all along the parade route despite the rainy weather. As we marched along we came to a bridge, now Ireally don't do good with heights. I figured well I am going to be in the middle of the bridge with a whole group of people around me I will be fine.we get to the bride and the bottom of the bridge was nothing but a grate.Well my heart started pounding, my hands were shaking. This was the end all the guys started to make fun of me * they would not have made fun of me if they didn't like me*. Finally the bridge came to an end and I wanted to kiss the ground.Then before I knew it the parade was over and it was time to pack up and go back to the club. While on the bus we all joked around about different points in the parade especially me and the bridge. All in all I had a great time. Can't wait for the next one.

Mummers Show of Shows

Did you miss the Mummers Parade on New Year's Day? Well here is your chance to see it. The Mummers Show of Shows is held on Saturday February 18th 2006 at Board Walk Hall Alantic City NJ. If you are interested here is the link to purchase tickets. Official Ticketmaster site. Philadelphia Mummers String Band Show of Shows tickets,dates Hope to see you there. If you have any questions feel free to E-Mail me at mummerblog@yahoo.com