History of the Zulu Parade

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History of the Zulu
Parade
In New Orleans
By Monique Collins
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• Zulu was a very powerful and feared tribe in
  Africa around 1820 until white settlers arrived
  at their land.  The King disliked this and many
  conflicts occurred.  This led to a struggle that
  eventually built up into war.  In 1879, the
  British defeated the Zulus and all of South
  Africa was under the control of the British.  The
  native Africans had almost no political rights. 
  One hundred years later the folk stories and
  traditions have traveled to the United States and
  into New Orleans, LA where the story is
  celebrated every Mardi Gras in the Zulu parade. 

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• The first celebration of Zulu in New Orleans was
  in 1909 with its first King Zulu.  He wore
  raggedy pants and a costume that consisted of a
  lard can crown and a banana stalk scepter,
  and had a Jubilee-singing quartet in front and
  behind him. 

In 1949, Louis Armstrong, a notable New Orleans
native, came back to town to be anointed king of
Zulu. He wore blackface and a grass skirt.
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• Historic photos of Zulu characters from the
  1930s. From left Allen Leon, the Zulu King from
  1931-33 J.P. Hilton, Edward Hill and Charles
  Hill in costume as Zulu comic characters in 1939
  Baptiste Giles reigned as Zulu King in 1935.

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• In 1915, the first uses of floats were
  constructed on a spring wagon, using dry good
  boxes.  The float was decorated with palmetto
  leaves and moss and carried four Dukes along with
  the King. That humble beginning gave rise to the
  lavish floats we see in the Zulu parade today. 

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• Many of those who participate in the parades on
  the floats are in blackface, and wear fright wigs
  and grass skirts.

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• This was the 2009 Zulu Parade Route.

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• People will do almost anything for the Mardi Gras
  throws such as Doubloons, Beads, plastic cups,
  and the famous Zulu Coconuts.

Doubloons are brightly colored aluminum coins
about the size of a U.S. Silver Dollar. They are
usually embossed with the symbol of the krewe on
one side, and the year and theme of the parade on
the other.
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• Zulu beads and medallions are very famous throws
  at the parade. By far, the most popular and
  abundant throws at any parade are beads. Beads of
  all kinds. Cheap ones. Colorful ones. Long ones.
  Bright ones. Most beads are plastic, but every
  once in awhile you'll run across some heavy glass
  ones - these are definitely keepers. The Zulu
  Krewe now have their own brand of beads with
  plastic medallions attached bearing their logo.

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• The tradition of handing out of coconuts dates to
  the early days of the Zulu parade
• more elaborately decorated versions began
  appearing in the 1980s. Each person on a float
  handles five cases of Zulu coconuts. And there
  are thirty-four (34) coconuts per case. We're
  talking about 102,000 coconuts if we assume an
  average of 20 people per float. Thirty floats
  times twenty people per float times fives cases
  per person times thirty-four coconuts per case.

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• Each rider distributes at least 300
  coconuts along the 4.5-mile route. Five cases
  (170 coconuts) takes about five weeks to be
  prepared and painted. One person from the Zulu
  Krewe said that they get their coconuts from the
  big markets in New Orleans.

To prepare for a parade, Claudia Clark decorates
Zulu coconuts.
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King Cakes

• The Zulu King Cake is a representation of the
  history of Zulu. Originally, King Cakes were a
  simple ring of dough with a small amount of
  decoration. Today's King Cakes are much more
  festive. After the rich Danish dough is braided
  and baked, the "baby" is inserted. The top of the
  ring or oval cake is then covered with delicious
  sugar toppings in the traditional Mardi Gras
  colors of purple, green and gold.

In more recent years, some bakeries have been
creative with stuffing and topping their cakes
with different flavors of cream cheese and fruit
fillings.
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Zulu Social Aid and Pleasure Club

• Zulu Social Aid and Pleasure Club is one of the
  earliest and still the most prominent of the
  African-American social clubs. It celebrated its
  100th anniversary this year. The Zulus found not
  only fellowship, but also owing to the clubs
  social-aid mission burial insurance at a time
  when it was all but impossible for
  African-Americans to secure insurance of any
  sort. The group also provided a way for black New
  Orleanians to celebrate Mardi Gras, a citywide
  festival dating back to 1857 and cooked up
  chiefly to give the citys patricians an excuse
  to dress up as faux royalty, wear elaborate masks
  and stage grand balls and parades.

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• New Orleans biggest celebrated holiday is Mardi
  Gras, which is a party and parade thrown
  throughout the streets of the city's French
  Quarter.
• As us New Orleans residents would say, "Laissez
  les bon temps roulez" which means "Let the good
  times roll."

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Bibliography

• http//www.kreweofzulu.com/Krewe-Of-Zulu/History-O
  f-the-Zulu-Social-Aid--Pleasure-Club.html
• http//www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/neworleans/sfeature/z
  ulu.html
• http//www.neworleansonline.com/neworleans/mardigr
  as/mgtraditions.html
• http//travel.nytimes.com/2009/02/13/travel/escape
  s/13Zulu.html
• http//goneworleans.about.com/od/festivals/ig/Zulu
  /
• http//www.mardigrasneworleans.com/zulufloat.html
• http//www.coconut.com/features/zulucoco.html
• http//photos.nola.com/tag/4500/Krewe20of20Zulu