What's This Blog About?
Every New Years Day, the Mummers strut down the streets of Philadelphia putting smiles on the faces of the old and young alike. But what most people don't know is that it takes us 364 days of the year to make that one day possible. This is our story.

Monday, January 30, 2006

Mummer History

Who and What are Mummers?

To define them simply, Mummers are costumed entertainers welcoming in the New Year. And Mummery is as ancient as man's dream of getting outside of customary life and as old as his imagination. Some of the earliest mummers date back to early Egypt. Mummers would lead the burial procession of the Pharaohs in extravagant costumes, playing finger cymbals, tambourines and other rhythm instruments. Tracing back through the mazes of history that led to England and Germany, to ancient France, pagan Rome and Greece, we find mummery has influenced customs and perpetuated many interesting traditions. Every nation had its festivals at one time or another, each marked by parades and displays of fanciful costumes. As early as 400 BC, Roman laborers observed the feast of the Saturnalia in honor of their god, Saturn, and the reaping of the harvest. They made calls on friends, they exchanged gifts and it was customary for some of the gifts to bear greetings for a Happy New Year. Unrestrained merry-making marked the pagan Saturnalia and Carnival, the ancient Roman festival of Saturn that began on December 17th.

Slaves sported robes from their masters, and the patricians wearing fantastic costumes, roamed the streets with their slaves. Age and rank were forgotten for the fiesta and all persons were free for the day. There was a musical background for the capers of the multitude with songs and ballads befitting the joyous occasion. Another early custom was the Florentine Carnival usually held in the beginning of Lent - a day set aside by monks of the Middle Ages for the lords of misrule and the abbots of unreason. At this time, England and Germany celebrated their Christmas Mosque, resulting in riotous indulgence. This took the form of a dramatic entertainment popular in the 16th and 17th centuries, and following usually an allegorical theme, which embodied pageantry, music and dancing. The use of masks and different costumes were carried over from the Greek celebrations of King Momus, the Italian feast of Saturnalia, and the British Mummery Play.

The Philadelphia Tradition



The tradition of Philadelphia Mummery started in the late 17th century as a continuation of the Old World customs of ushering in the New Year. Mummery in America is as unique to Philadelphia as Mardi Gras is to New Orleans. The Swedes were Philadelphia's first settlers. When they came to Tinicum, just outside of Philadelphia, they brought their custom of visiting friends on "Second Day Christmas", December 26. Later they extended their period of celebration to include New Year's Day, and welcomed the New Year with masquerades and parades of noisy revelers. Masqueraders paraded the through the streets of Philadelphia. Most people carried firearms for protection in those early days of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and it did not take long before pistols and muskets joined with bells and noisemakers to create the sound of a New Year.

Those who "shot in" the New Year became New Year's Shooters, and thus the name much later evolved to officially become the New Year's Shooters and Mummers Association. Groups would travel from house to house, sing songs, and perform dances -- all to be rewarded with food and drink. The early Swedish Mummers appointed a leader, or "speech director", who had a little dance step and who recited a rhyme like this:

"Here we stand before your door,As we stood the year before;Give us whiskey; give us gin,Open the door and let us in." Even during the Revolutionary period, New Year's Day continued to be a day of carnival and friendly calls. General Howe, whose redcoats occupied the city, staged a farewell party for Howe called the "Meschianza" (Italian for melody) in the Wharton mansion in 1778. The party was truly a pageant that recreated a tournament of the Middle Ages, including decorated barges, heralds and trumpeters, a jousting field and the Knights of the Blended Rose. The costumes were made of more than $150,000 worth of silks ($2,250,000 in today's dollars), paid for by rich junior officers. Captain John Andre, who was the costume designer, described the event as a "delightful and gorgeous spectacle."

George Washington, following his inauguration, began the official custom of New Year's Day calls and continued it during the seven years he occupied the presidential mansion in Philadelphia, then the capital. The mummers continued to celebrate annually in their traditional way, reciting jokes, ill-conceived poems, and receiving in return cakes and ale. Groups of five to twenty would march from home to home, shooting and shouting, doing friendly impersonations of General Washington and burlesquing the fashionable English mummers' play of St. George and the Dragon. A character that always accompanied their "Washington" was Cooney Cracker, a clown whose costumes and antics, some historians believe, was the forerunner of Uncle Sam. This shooter impersonating Washington had several poems and speeches to recite, which still survive today. By 1808, the burlesquing of the Mummers' fashionable play with an increasing number of revelers began offending the social leaders of the day. An act was passed declaring that "masquerades, masquerade balls, and masked processions were public nuisances" with threat of fine and imprisonment. Nevertheless, the farmers, tradesmen, craftsmen, apprentices, laborers and members of fire fighting companies continued to stage clandestine masquerades on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day.

While the celebrations were quieted down, they were not stopped, and the law was abolished in the 1850's with no reports of convictions. The Mummers continued their own ideas of celebrating New Year's and clung to their rifles, pistols and friendly calls in "welcoming in the new year". In the 1870's, the nation was recuperating from the Civil War, and what had been an uncoordinated group of neighborhood celebrations turned into an area wide parade with two main groups of participants: Fancy Dress clubs and Comic clubs. Early forms of the parades were present in 1888. Official sponsorship by the City of Philadelphia began with the turn of the century in 1901.

The Phiadelphia Mummers of Today

The Philadelphia Mummers of today total over 10,000 marchers on New Year's Day. There are three distinct divisions of the parade: Comic, Fancy, and String Band. Comic division clubs lampoon modern day local and national political and social themes. The Fancy division clubs wear large, ornate costumes, carrying back pieces and performing with floats and props. The String Band division clubs not only wear elaborate costumes like the Fancy division, but also drill and perform playing musical instruments. The first String Band club was formed in 1901, and featured violins, banjos and guitars. A few years later, drums, saxophones, accordions and glockenspiels were introduced, giving the String Band a unique sound. Parade rules do not permit the use of brass instruments in a String Band. The instrumentation is exclusively saxophones, banjos, accordions, violins, bass violins, and percussion instruments. Mummers String Bands are known, not only for the unique sound, but also for their elaborate costumes. Brilliant materials, glitter, sequins and feathers are all combined to make the showy costumes. Traditionally, band members, wives and friends made the costumes.

Today, most bands contract them out to professional costumers. In Philadelphia, the cost of costuming an average 64-piece band is between $30,000 and $80,000, with the captain's costume costing as high as $10,000. There are eighteen String Band organizations in existence today. Every year, each String Band selects an annual theme, and debuts their new music and costumes in the Philadelphia New Year's Day parade. This parade is a fascinating annual tradition, brimming with dancers and marching units. The marching leader of the band or captain makes his elaborate debut doing the "2 Street Strut". People from the "City of Brotherly Love" know the excitement of a Mummers performance, and to them the Mummers also bring a sense of nostalgia. Commitment to the community has always been one of the basic principles of Mummers clubs, especially String Band clubs. It is from the entire Delaware Valley community where musicians and helpers (called Marshals) are recruited and trained. It is also from this community where the clubs derive the funds used for the costumes and operations of their clubhouses. It is to this community the String Bands return the gratitude expressed by making each New Year's Day theme performance more exciting than the last.

Compiled by Steve Coper, Fralinger String Band

Saturday, January 21, 2006

About The Author



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Hello my name is Diana and I am 24 years old and I live in Philadelphia, The city of brotherly love. Home of the Phillies, Flyers, Eagles and the 76ers and also home to a tradition, that has been celebrated for over one hundred years, the Mummers Parade. I am proud to say that I am apart of this great tradition. I am a member of the Uptown String Band. Uptown was an all male organization but took a vote in September of 2005 to allow women into their band. A week later I made the move and joined Uptown along with four other women musicians. I started mumming with the Irish American String Band in the summer of 1999. I had many great memories while with Irish American but it was time for me to make a move.

I felt that by going to Uptown I would be able to enhance my musical skills. New Year's Day 2006 was my first time parading up the street with Uptown. Our theme was "Bums the Word" * a hobo theme*I had a blast. When I am not mumming I work full time for Wawa * a little conveniance store* I also attend school at Community College of Philadelphia and Hopefully from there I will continue my education and become a Nuse and finally start my career in a local hospital.

Monday, January 02, 2006

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Uptown String Band Kicks off in STYLE

Mummers kick off new year in style

By: BARBARA J. ISENBERG COURIER TIMES
Date: January 2, 2006

"Bum's the Word" was this year's theme for the Hulmeville-based Uptown String Band. PHILADELPHIA-They strutted. They marched. They played. And they did it for almost 10 hours Sunday. Bucks County's own Uptown String Band, the only local Mummers group to perform in Philadelphia's annual New Year's Day parade, danced with the best of them to place ninth out of 17 entrants in the String Band Division. They placed ninth last year also.

"Bum's the Word" was the Hulmeville group's theme this year as performers, dressed as bums and hobos, played trumpets, banjos and accordions for three miles up Broad Street from Oregon Avenue to City Hall. The group of about 60 performers and 50 marshals performed their routine a total of nine times, not including the numerous times the band stopped to play a song.

Uptown Mummers dressed in elaborate, colorful "rags" decorated with glitter and gold trimmings were flanked by grocery carts filled with trashcan lids, empty liquor bottles and paper. Several huge props, including a Dumpster and a cityscape, provided the backdrop to their four and a half minute routine. Along Broad Street, Captain Jamie Caldwell of Penndel stopped to pose for pictures with spectators and wish young children a Happy New Year.

"Usually South Philly's filled," Caldwell remarked about a third of the way through the parade. "I don't think there are as many people especially since it's so warm." Despite fewer people in South Philly, Uptown was met with roaring approval at each performance along Broad Street. "We get better each time we do it," Paul Travisano, a dancer from Doylestown, said en route to the main judging area. "We should peak at City Hall." Ryan Radcliffe, one of the group's choreographers, said Uptown spent between $55,000 and $65,000 this year on costumes and props.
"We chose this theme because we thought it might help us save money, but we've ended up spending just as much as usual," Radcliffe said while eating a sandwich midway through the parade.

Lorraine Speziale of South Philly choreographed the specialty dancers' parts and said she considers the group her family. "They really are a special group of guys," she said. "Look at me, I get all teary about it." Closer to City Hall, the crowd grew larger- and more rowdy - as the Uptown Mummers hurried through some last-minute touch-ups before the big finale at City Hall. Mummers refreshed their makeup and rearranged their costumes, checked the props and tried to calm down before giving it their all for the judges.
"I'm a wreck," Speziale said before the group's last performance. "I just want them to do good. That's all I want."

The Uptown Mummers pulled out all the stops for the judges at 15th and Market streets. They sang louder, jumped higher and smiled broader than they had all along Broad Street. Dancers clanged trash can lids, threw bags of trash and twirled ratty umbrellas in style. "I think we did great," Travisano said after the group's performance as Uptown members breathed a sigh of relief. But the show wasn't over for Uptown. The Two Street parade and a party in Hulmeville awaited them.

Sunday, January 01, 2006

Rick Conti (Woodland)

Rick Conti began his Mummer career by joining the Irish American String Band in May of 1999, as a Freshman in high school. It was on January of 2000, that Rick marched in the Mummers parade for the first time, as Irish American made their inigural strut up the street. Since beginning his career in 1999, Rick has much mummers experience. He was appointed the assistant musical director of IASB in 2001, at the age of 17. After holding this office for 2 years, Rick moved on to become the bands musical director for the next 2 1/2 years. One of Rick's greatest accompolishments in IA was helping the band move to 12th place, the bands highest prize so far in 2004! In August of 2005, Rick decided that it was time to move on. In one of the most difficult decisions he had to make as a mummer, it was time for Rick to move to new things.
In September of 2005, Rick took up membership with the Woodland String Band. Marching along side of friends he grew up with, Rick could not be happier. Rick says he will die in Woodland String Band!