The Mummers

For those of you who are not from the Greater Philadelphia area, I wanted to share a local custom with you: the Mummers. Not for the faint of heart, this is a very drunken parade of costumed men playing instruments while strutting down the streets of the city every New Year's Day.

My dad and his family would go , since they lived there around the 1940s. We never went, nor did I ever really have an interest, besides the 5 minutes of the parade I would stomach every year on Channel 6. No thanks. Besides the stunning banjo/mumming performance from one of the teachers at the Shawnee High School pep rally, I plan to never witness this event with my own eyes.

There is, however, an entire museum devoted to these brave men dressed in fancy pants, literally, and the origins of mumming. This is a curious piece of Philadelphia history that I still want to see, but not the drunken fools that congregate there during the Mummers awards ceremony held in front of the museum every New Years. I liken it to Mardi Gras, and so does everyone else, apparently. Most New Yorkers would never understand, except maybe with the exception of the beerfest that is the St. Patrick's Day Parade, or the World Series Parade for the Yankees. No thanks , yet again.

So, here is a clip of this year's winners. Notice the strong Philly accent from the commentators play by play. You can tell they are Mummers fans for life.

But I suppose as with all traditions, this parade is losing it's funding. And look! The Bacon Brothers wrote a song about the Mummers! There is a website to join so you too can preserve the sanctity of strutting! This clip shows a parade from around the 1930s or so, and it looks like it was much more civilized fun then. Still slightly curious, but fun.

Now go on, go get a hoagie from Wawa, and call it a day.