Do you know what a Mummer is?

[piratesmate]

Oops! Sorry - I answered, but don't think you wanted me to as I live just outside Philly in upper Montgomery County.

I hate...no detest....no loathe the Mummers! At our house we never watched them. For us, it was the Rose Parade. DH is from Delaware County & they always watched the Mummers - the entire parade! - going back to when it was all men.

 

[mom23boys]

My Mom grew up in South Philly, my uncle still lives there. Every year when I was little, it was off to the Mummers Parade. I loved it. Still do. When I got older, early 20s I took my DH down to closer to City Hall ya know with the real drinkers and partiers. Well that went over like a lead balloon. To this day he just does not get it. I would love to take the kids one year, but I do not think he would go for it. Maybe someday when they get older.

I think you have to grow up with it to really appreciate the history and dynamic of the whole Mummers Day Parade.

 

[Papa Deuce]

Oops! Sorry - I answered, but don't think you wanted me to as I live just outside Philly in upper Montgomery County.

I hate...no detest....no loathe the Mummers! At our house we never watched them. For us, it was the Rose Parade. DH is from Delaware County & they always watched the Mummers - the entire parade! - going back to when it was all men.

Glad to find someone of like mided thoughts on this tradition. And I won't get into all the "gory" details..... locals know what I mean.

 

[ToriLammy]

Born and raised in Philly, watching the Mummers on tv was a yearly event in our house. My grandmother loved the strings bands A&E carried the parade (or at least part of it) a few years ago and I was able to show my family just what a Mummer is.

 

[Tiggeroo]

definitely different experience in person then on tv. I liked it when my aunt lived nearby. we could walk to the corner, watch the parade for a bit then go home eat hang with family, etc and then go back. I can't imagine watching the whole thing. It used to finish up soooo late back then and my mother loved the stringbands and they used to go on last, or next to last. Then after words she would by the show of shows albums and play them or she would go to see it in person.
I loved the family experience but not the parade so much. In retrospect I would not take my kids to the 2street area. Gets a bit too rowdy. I do make my kids watch it for a few minutes every year to see their family history.
I also remember as a kid trying to find fallen peacock feathers and abandoned clown umbrellas. Over they years the feathers got more expensive and they used less of them.

 

[goofygirl]

I am in Philly so of course I know what a Mummer is, I'm not into the Mummers at all even though I like a lot of Philly things and I've been to the Mummers Museum as a kid.


I once tried to explain the Mummers Parade to a foreigner. I was like: "Well...its this parade where these men dress up in feathers and sequins and some play music, and the parade goes on for hours on New Years Day." He thought it was a crazy idea!

 

[Cindy B]

I voted last option. Thank God Jan 1, is only once a year.

If I hear another string instrument this year, it will be too soon.

 

[micki7337]

The Mummers Parade has been a huge part of my family. Both my parents are from 2nd Street and I was born/lived at 2nd & Mercy. My DF told me tonight he started marching when he was 8 or 9. He was in the comics and later the fancys. He marched up until we moved to the northeast and it was too much of a hike up and down 95 every few days in order to practice. While I'm not a fan of the comics and the fancys, I love the stringbands. My DF has taught me how to evaluate the music - the movement - the costumes. He's an armchair judge and usually gets the winner right. What makes it even more special is that my DF's BD is New Years Day. I still have family on 2nd Street and have great memories of nights struttin' in the street. I have taken my kids back a few times to visit family and try to recreate the times I had as a child. But it's just not the same. The stringbands may march down 2nd Street, but they don't drill. My dad says there's just not enough space. Mostly what is on 2nd Street are the "wenches". Funny thing is I would never consider watching the parade on Broad Street. You couldn't pay me to sit/stand all day watching the parade!

 

[WilmaBud]

My grandfather was a Mummer a long, long time ago (my grandfather's been gone 10 years now), when he was young.

We have the Mummer's Parade on every New Year's Day. I really like the string bands. My grandmother used to LOVE the Mummer's Parade. She's been gone almost 3 years now, and I think of her every time I hear the string bands.

I think the Mummer's Parade is a very cool, colorful, local tradition. New Year's wouldn't be the same without it.

 

[Tiggeroo]

WilmaBud, you just reminded me of my grandmother.She made sure all of her grandchildren knew the mummer's strut, and she would break out her mummers albums, play Golden Slippers and dance around the room. She even bought herself a pair of golden slippers to wear on new years. I definitely miss her.

 

[micki7337]

WilmaBud, you just reminded me of my grandmother.She made sure all of her grandchildren knew the mummer's strut, and she would break out her mummers albums, play Golden Slippers and dance around the room. She even bought herself a pair of golden slippers to wear on new years. I definitely miss her.

I have memories of my grandmother doing the mummer's strut on 2nd Street with Bob Shannon, the captain of Quaker City SB. Bob is 6'8" - the same height as my grandfather (who I never met!). I was probably 8 or 9 at the time and I will cherish those few moments the rest of my life.

At family parties, weddings, anniversaries, etc. the Golden Slipper jams the dance floor with my aunts, uncles and counsins spinning around the floor holding up their invisible skirts and umbrellas!

 

[phillybeth]

At family parties, weddings, anniversaries, etc. the Golden Slipper jams the dance floor with my aunts, uncles and counsins spinning around the floor holding up their invisible skirts and umbrellas!

Same here! It's not a party 'til someone struts!

 

[MerryPoppins]

How educational you guys are. I've heard of the Mummers, but never had a clue what they were. We used to have "Mummers Theatre" and I wondered what that meant. Now I know it was probably named by someone back East. Thanks for enlightening me. Now I want to see some of the parade one of these years.

 

[JessetheCowgirl]

I thought you were talking about a heart mummer

 

[Dan Murphy]

Great video link here..........

http://www.strutthemovie.com/video.php

 

[Poohnatic]

The mummers used to parade right by my house in Hagerstown, Maryland every year on Halloween Weekend! It was a great excuse to have a big party/open house!

Suzanne

 

[KingsFanInRI]

all this talk of the Mummers and South Philly is making me hungry for Tony Luke's

 

[TeresaNJ]

I grew up in South Philly, and have watched the Mummer's Parade my whole life. In fact, I won't go anywhere on New Year's Day unless I know for a fact that I will be able to watch it. I actually recorded it yesterday on my digital cable box so I could rewatch it, and have tickets to see the Mummer's Show of Shows at the Atlantic City Boardwalk Convention Center on February 26, can't wait!! Saw the show the past two years, so it is now becoming a tradition for us. The artistry and pageantry that goes into the planning of the String Bands and Fancy Brigades is amazing. My next door neighbor when I lived in Philly, Bill Bowen, is the captain of the Fralinger String Band. I know alot of people don't understand this parade, maybe you have to grow up with it, but people who don't give it a chance don't know what they are missing.

 

[micki7337]

In fact, I won't go anywhere on New Year's Day unless I know for a fact that I will be able to watch it.

We aren't allowed to talk in our house while the string bands are playing. We get shhhhh'd!!

Over the years my dad would comment how he "went to school with that guy" or "hung on the corner with him". I always found it amazing how the mummers were such a tight knit group.

In my 42 years I have never seen a rose parade!

 

[WebmasterMaryJo]

I live in Los Angeles, & have never heard of the Mummers until this thread. How interesting.