Beads are one of the great New Orleans symbols, as much a signifier of the city as a pot of scarlet crawfish or a jazzman’s trumpet. They are Louisiana’s version of the Hawaiian lei, strung around tourists’ and conventioneers’ necks to demonstrate enthusiasm for the city. The first in a new LSU Press series exploring facets of Louisiana’s iconic culture, Mardi Gras Beads delves into the history of this celebrated New Orleans artifact, explaining how Mardi Gras beads came to be in the first place and how they grew to have such an outsize presence in New Orleans celebrations. Beads are a big business based on valuelessness. Approximately 130 shipping containers, each filled with 40,000 pounds of Chinese-made beads and other baubles, arrive at New Orleans’s biggest Mardi Gras throw importer each Carnival season. Beads are an unnatural part of the natural landscape, persistently dangling from the trees along parade routes like Spanish moss. They clutter the doorknobs of the city, sway behind its rearview mirrors, test the load-bearing strength of its attic rafters, and clog its all-important rainwater removal system. Mardi Gras Beads traces the history of these parade trinkets from their origins before World War One through their ascent to the premier parade catchable by the Depression era. Veteran Mardi Gras reporter Doug MacCash explores the manufacture of Mardi Gras beads in places as far-flung as the Sudetenland, India, and Japan, and traces the shift away from glass beads to the modern, disposable plastic versions. Mardi Gras Beads concludes in the era of coronavirus, when parades (and therefore bead throwing) were temporarily suspended because of health concerns, and considers the future of biodegradable Mardi Gras beads in a city ever more threatened by the specter of climate change.

The Little Purple Mardi Gras Bead is a story created in anticipation of Mardi Gras day. It is a wonderful story that shows how two wishes magically come true.

Beads, Bodies, and Trash merges cultural sociology with a commodity chain analysis by following Mardi Gras beads to their origins. Beginning with Bourbon Street of New Orleans, this book moves to the grim factories in the tax-free economic zone of rural Fuzhou, China. Beads, Bodies, and Trash will increase students’ capacity to think critically about and question everyday objects that circulate around the globe: where do objects come from, how do they emerge, where do they end up, what are their properties, what assemblages do they form, and what are the consequences (both beneficial and harmful) of those properties on the environment and human bodies? This book also asks students to confront how the beads can contradictorily be implicated in fun, sexist, unequal, and toxic relationships of production, consumption, and disposal. With a companion documentary, Mardi Gras Made in China, this book introduces students to recording technologies as possible research tools.

Strategy To See describes interventions and strategies which encourage more consistent and efficient viewing behavior in students with Cortical Visual Impairment. A CVI Skills Inventory and Strategy Worksheet is provided to record observations and strategies for others to follow.

Dinosaurs parade down the streets of New Orleans during the Mardi Gras carnival. Includes glossary and related craft activity.

Delphine Denise likes things BIG. And what's bigger than a Mardi Gras prize? "Kids will connect with Delphine's holiday excitement, even when it causes trouble, and learn from the mistakes she makes."—Booklist Every year, Delphine Denise Debreaux and her friends ride their bikes together in the New Orleans Mardi Gras parade. But this year, there's a shiny prize for best float—and Delphine Denise just has to win it. How can her friends remind Delphine Denise what the parade is really all about? This joyful picture book, inspired by the author's own experience celebrating Mardi Gras in New Orleans as a child, explores the sights, sounds, smells, and tastes of the holiday. Full of vibrant and festive illustrations, this story reminds readers that winning isn't everything, and the best way to let the good times roll is in the company of friends.

Our Southern Souls is a collection of 177 interviews of strangers that I approached on streets all across the southern United States. Each story feels like an honest conversation. Readers of Our Southern Souls have told me they've discovered a part of themselves in a story or found comfort and encouragement in reading about shared experiences or emotions. In the six years since starting this project, I have learned that the faces and places might change, but two things remain constant: everyone has a story to tell, and all of us need to know our life matters.

Repetition, alliteration, and visual humor abound in this Mardi Gras themed riff on the iconic holiday song, perfect for emerging readers and early counters. As each day of the Mardi Gras season passes, a gift is given. Each of the many, many, many gifts is familiar to those who embrace the season's traditions. Coming in twos, twelves, fives and fours, the gifts include majestic masks, floats a rolling, golden shoes, and cherished cups. Colorful illustrations provide lots of additional hijinks and engagement in this soon-to-be-classic holiday tale!

Teaching the basic principles of archaeology through an “excavation” and analysis of New Orleans Mardi Gras parades and the beads thrown there? A student’s dream book! Award-winning historical archaeologist Laurie Wilkie takes her two loves and merges them into a brief, lively introductory textbook that is sure to actively engage students. She shows how her analysis of trinkets tossed from parade floats can illustrate major themes taught in introductory archaeology classes—from methods to economy, social identity to political power—introduced in a concrete, entertaining way. The strength of Wilkie’s book is in showing how different theoretical models used by archaeologists lead to different research questions and different answers. The textbook covers all the major themes expected of brief introductory texts but is one that students will want to read.

Sewing can be as easy as 1-2-3 with this helpful building-block approach—includes thirty-three projects! In this creative teaching book, craft blogger Ellen Luckett Baker offers a wholly unique approach to sewing: She presents projects in groups of three, each building on the techniques used in the project before. Baker shows, for example, how to sew a glasses case, then build on those skills to create a zippered pouch, and from there, make a more advanced cosmetics bag. There are thirty-three delightful projects in all, ranging from clothing to decor and accessories. This very special ebook includes easy-to-follow instructions, how-to illustrations, and instructions for how to print the patterns, making it an essential resource for beginning and intermediate sewers alike.