On New Years Day Philadelphia, PA holds its annual Mummers parade. After months of preparation, everyday people come together to put on a unique spectacle that includes comic sketches, beautiful floats and costumes, and music.
The Mummers Parade traces back to mid-17th century roots, blending elements from Swedish, Finnish, Irish, English, German and other European heritages, as well as African-American heritage. The parade is related to the Mummers Play tradition from England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Revivals of this tradition are still celebrated annually in South Gloucestershire, England on Boxing Day and in parts of Ireland on St. Stephen's Day.
Swedes, Philadelphia's first settlers, brought the custom of visiting neighbors on Second Day Christmas (December 26) with them to Tinicum. This was soon extended through New Year’s Day with costumed celebrants loudly parading through the city.
Traditional New Years' celebrations of firing guns (Swedes and Finns) and recitations of traditional rhymes (English and Welsh) joined common practices of visiting neighbors. The Belsnickle, an early German version of Santa Claus, inspired comic masqueraders riding through Tinicum and Kingsessing dressed as clowns.
Philadelphia's 19th century Carnival of Horns drew thousands of merrymakers in festive costumes to the vicinity of Eighth and South Streets in South Philadelphia. An 1808 law decreed that "masquerades" and "masquerade Balls" were "common nuisances" and that anyone participating would be subject to a fine and imprisonment. It was apparently never enforced and was repealed in 1859.
Celebrants using firearms to "shoot in" the new year much later inspired the "New Year's Shooters and Mummers Association". Revelers travelling from door-to-door sang and danced for rewards of food and drink. Cash prizes debuted in 1906.
Early Swedish Mummers appointed a "speech director", who performed a special dance with a traditional rhyme:
"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.
Or give us something nice and hot
Like a steaming hot bowl of pepper pot!"
The earliest documented club, the Chain Gang, formed in 1840 and Golden Crown first marched in 1876 with cross-town rivals Silver Crown forming soon after. By 1881, a local report said "Parties of paraders" made the street "almost like a masked Ball."
The first official parade was held January 1, 1901. The earliest surviving String Band, Trilby, first paraded in 1902 (with many breaks thereafter, and a reorganization in 1935). The Ferko String Band has never missed a parade since they started marching in 1923. In the early years of the official parade, the make-shift costumes of most celebrants were gradually replaced by more elaborate outfits funded by associations’ fund-raising efforts.
As of 2008, the parade cost the city over $1 million each year, including $750,000 for police and parade services and $360,000 in prize money. The 2008 budget crisis has led the city to propose closing numerous libraries and firehouses and the scaling back of expenditures for the parade, offering $300,000 for the 2009 parade and nothing for 2010. Creative financial ideas are being proposed for 2010 and beyond.
After the end of city funding for the parade, the Mummers created the "Save the Mummers Fund" to help cover the additional city fees to paying expenses for police and sanitation services during the event.
In September 2009, the Bacon Brothers (Philadelphia natives Michael and Kevin Bacon) recorded a special version of their song "New Year's Day" with members of the All-Star String Band. Proceeds from the sale of the CD went to the Save the Mummers Fund. Additionally, the Bacon Brothers performed a benefit concert for the parade in December 2009.
The Mummers Parade traveled northward on Broad Street in Philadelphia for decades until the 1995 parade when the parade was moved to Market Street due to construction work on Broad Street (notably the "Avenue of the Arts" between Washington Ave. and City Hall). After construction was completed, the parade returned to Broad Street from 1996 to 1999. For various reasons, the parade was moved again to Market Street in 2000. In 2004, the parade was moved back to Broad Street. In 1997 the Fancy Brigades were moved to the Pennsylvania Convention Center, allowing for larger sets, but limiting audience size.
As of 2008, the parade began at 9:00 a.m. and ended sometime before 8:00 PM. Fancy Brigades performed at the nearby Pennsylvania Convention Center at noon and, in a second, judged show, at 5:00 PM. An individual Mummers' strut—a weaving, comical dance/walk with pumping arms held out to the side—may last two or three hours from South Philadelphia to City Hall. The whole Parade, at close to 11 hours, may have been the longest parade in the United States. Due to budget cuts, the 2009 parade was "shorter", scheduled to begin at 10:00 AM and last 6 and a half hours.
Each year, there is a festival leading up to the parade called MummersFest. It allows fans to tour the Pennsylvania Convention Center to watch the Fancy Brigades build their props and practice for their New Year's Day reveal.
