# Please help me get rid of these Mardi Gras beads! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 22, 2006, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-me-get-rid-of-these-mardi-gras-beads/353759 "2006-04-22T16:57:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2006, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-me-get-rid-of-these-mardi-gras-beads/353759/21 "2006-04-24T16:11:59Z")
Find somebody who is into caching. Mardi Gras beads make wonderful swag. Look on [www.terracaching.com](http://www.terracaching.com) or [www.geocaching.com](http://www.geocaching.com), post up a message. You’ll have lotsa responses. ---
**Author:** ![peri](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/67e7ee/32.png) [@peri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peri)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2006, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-me-get-rid-of-these-mardi-gras-beads/353759/22 "2006-04-24T19:18:02Z")
Are there any left to dispense? I would like some if so. Pretty please? ---
**Author:** ![cabdude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/58956e/32.png) [@cabdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cabdude)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2006, 10:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-me-get-rid-of-these-mardi-gras-beads/353759/23 "2006-04-25T10:48:01Z")
Sorry - not being from the United States, can anyone explain what the deal is with the beads? Mardi Gras means something different here in Sydney. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2006, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-me-get-rid-of-these-mardi-gras-beads/353759/24 "2006-04-25T12:49:55Z")
[Mardi Gras beads](http://mardi-gras-fun.com/images/beads1.jpg) are cheap long necklaces tossed out by people in New Orleans on Mardi Gras. Some are passed out from floats in parades, others by people wallking around the streets. It’s become traditional for women to “flash” (reveal their breasts) in exchange for a string of beads. In reality, you can acquire quite a stash of beads without flashing anyone, I hear. Most of the beads themselves (like the ones in the linked picture) are not truly beads anymore, but molded plastic shapes pressed directly onto string (instead of being free moving pieces with holes in the middle). They come in all sorts of colors and shapes, mostly very shiny and flashy. People also tend to hang them around the rear-view mirrors on their cars, for some reason. **tsarina** , thanks for your email. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2006, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-me-get-rid-of-these-mardi-gras-beads/353759/25 "2006-04-25T12:59:55Z")
They don’t just throw beads (and trade them for gratuitous semi-nudity). They also throw **Dubloons** and **Cups** , all made of plastic and emblazoned with the mark of that “Krewe”. ---
**Author:** ![cabdude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/58956e/32.png) [@cabdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cabdude)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2006, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-me-get-rid-of-these-mardi-gras-beads/353759/26 "2006-04-25T13:44:03Z")
Then is it worth clarifying exactly how **Tsarina** managed to acquire so many beads? Or would that be gauche? ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2006, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-me-get-rid-of-these-mardi-gras-beads/353759/27 "2006-04-25T13:52:06Z")
> [@cabdude](#): > > Then is it worth clarifying exactly how **Tsarina** managed to acquire so many beads? Or would that be gauche? Gauche. Very gauche. I think we can rest assured she flashed no more than her dazzling smile and was showered with beads from gentlemanly (or womanly, if that’s her thing) admirers of the most delicate and gracious sort. or she’s in the direct to video _Girls With Low Self-Esteem XIV - Mardis Gross_. 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-me-get-rid-of-these-mardi-gras-beads/353759.md?page=1)