Notes From New Orleans

It’s Carnival time in New Orleans, and that means that throw season has arrived. Throw as in the noun, a throw, not the verb, to throw. We’re talking about that time of year when revelers raise their arms in supplication for trinkets tossed from passing Mardi Gras parade floats. Of all the things that make New Orleans one-of-a-kind, parade throws may well be the most idiosyncratic. I don’t know of any other place on Earth where this ritual of tossing and catching from krewe to crowd takes place. I’ve been to Carnivals from Rio to Nice, and, while they have their own unique branding, they just don’t do it like they do here. When I took my own kids to the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, they scratched their heads in puzzlement. Why are people here when there’s nothing to catch, they wondered? After four decades of riding in New Orleans parades as well as watching them curbside, I’ve seen various Carnival throws come and go. Doubloons were hot, then not, and, recently, kind of hot again.