Shiny!

Our Carnival beads are here! Our Carnival beads are here! Colorful strings of plastic beads are synonymous with Mardis Gras in New Orleans and yet, Carnival goes by many, many names, so we'll be tossing them at Club Rio! Besides-- who doesn't live shiny things?

Can you believe these beads used to be shinier. And, made of Czech glass! If you look around, you can find vintage Czech beads made exclusively for Mardis Gras. The photo below are newly manufactured beads, made in the tradition.

White Fox Bead Company

Throwing beads is a relatively late addition to Carnival-- around the late 1800s. It was Krewe Rex that made bead throwing popular in the 1920s. Today, beads are as colorful as the rainbow, but the traditional Mardi Gras beads were purple (to symbolize justice and the color of royalty), green (for faith)  and the color gold signifies power. These colors were dedicated at the 1892 New Orleans Mardis Gras appropriately themed, "The Symbolism of Color." Today, the tradition continues for all of us revelers to enjoy!