Филадельфийский парад Маммеров: История и традиции

Parade held each New Year's Day in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

The Mummers Parade is held each New Year's Day in Philadelphia. Started in 1901, it is the longest running continuous folk parade in the United States. Local clubs, usually called "New Years Associations" or "New Years Brigades", compete in one of five categories: Comics, Wench Brigades, Fancies, String Bands, and Fancy Brigades. They prepare elaborate costumes, performance routines, and movable scenery, which take months to complete. This is done in clubhousesmany of which are on or near 2nd Street (called "Two Street" by some local residents) in the Pennsport neighborhood of the city's South Philadelphia sectionwhich also serve as social gathering places for members. Multiple Philadelphia television stations have aired the parade through its history; beginning in 2023, the latest of these is Wilmington, Delaware licensed WDPN TV, known as MeTV 2, which also provides live stream coverage through the website of its sister station WFMZ TV in nearby Allentown, Pennsylvania. On at least several occasions, the parade has been nationally televised. In 1994 and again in 1995, it was televised by the Travel Channel. In 2009 and 2010, parts of the parade were televised nationally on WGN America and WGN TV.

The parade traces back to mid 17th century roots, blending elements from Swedish, Finnish, Irish, English, German, and other European heritages, as well as African heritage. The parade is related to the Mummers Play tradition from Great Britain and Ireland. Revivals of this tradition are still celebrated annually in South Gloucestershire, England on Boxing Day along with other locations in England and in parts of Ireland on St. Stephen's Day and also in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador around Christmas. Swedes and Finns, early European colonists in the Philadelphia area, brought the custom of visiting neighbors on "Second Day Christmas" (December 26) with them to Tinicum. This was soon extended through New Year's Day with costumed celebrants loudly parading through the city. They appointed a "speech director", who performed a special dance with a traditional rhyme:

The Mummers derive their name from the Mummers' plays performed in Philadelphia in the 18th century as part of a wide variety of working class street celebrations around Christmas. By the early 19th century, these coalesced with earlier Swedish customs, including the Christmas neighbor visits and possibly shooting firearms on New Year's Day (although this was common in other countries as well) as well as the Pennsylvania German custom of "belsnickling," where adults in disguise questioned children about their behavior during the previous year. U. S. President George Washington carried on the official custom of New Year's Day calls during the seven years he occupied President's House in Philadelphia. The Mummers continued their traditions of comic verse in exchange for cakes and ale. Small groups of up to twenty mummers, their faces blackened, went door to door, shooting and shouting, and adapting the English Mummer's play by replacing the character of "King George" with that of "General Washington." Henry Muhlenberg, writing in 1839, reported, "Men met on the roads in Tinicum and Kingsessing, who were disguised as clowns, shouting at the top of their voices and shooting guns. By the 1880s, unable to suppress the custom, the Philadelphia city government began to pursue a policy of co option, requiring participants to join organized groups with designated leaders who had to apply for permits and were responsible for their groups’ actions. The earliest documented club, the Chain Gang, had formed in 1840 and Golden Crown first marched in 1876 with cross town rivals Silver Crown forming soon after. By 1881, a local report said "Parties of paraders" made the street "almost like a masked Ball." In the early years of the official parade, the makeshift costumes of most celebrants were gradually replaced by more elaborate outfits funded by associations' fund raising efforts. While South Philadelphia (especially Pennsport) remains one of the most important centers for Mummers traditions and Mummers members, more recent immigrants to the neighborhood from Asia and Latin America generally have fewer ties to the parade and tradition. While almost all parade participants are currently white, African American mummers existed in the past. The all African American Golden Eagle Club, formed in 1866, had 300 members in the 1906 parade, for example. Judges systematically discriminated against black clubs, however, and the last, the Octavius Catto Club, withdrew after receiving last place in the 1929 parade. The brass bands hired to accompany the Comic Brigades often include black musicians, but do not dress in costume and consider themselves session musicians rather than Mummers. By 1964, only one African American mummer, Willis Fluelling, remained. As of 2007, a few of the less traditional clubs, such as Spiral Q Puppet Theater's West Philadelphia Mummers Brigade, were integrated. The comic "wenches" and other female roles in most skits are typically performed by men in drag. The South Philly Vikings ran Viking Hall in the 1980s and 1990s, the venue today known as 2300 Arena.

As of 2008, the parade cost the city over $1 million each year, including $750,000 for police and parade services and $360,000 in prize money. The 2008 budget crisis led the city to propose closing numerous libraries and firehouses and the scaling back of expenditures for the parade, offering $300,000 for the 2009 parade and nothing for 2010. After the end of city funding for the parade, the Mummers created the "Save the Mummers Fund" to help cover the additional city fees to paying expenses for police and sanitation services during the event. Funding for the parade during the first decade of the 2000s was provided for several years by Southwest Airlines, which also took naming rights of the parade, which was called "Southwest Airlines Mummers Parade." Funding for the 2012 parade was provided by SugarHouse Casino, which renamed the parade to "Sugar House Mummers Parade." In September 2009, The Bacon Brothers musical duo, composed of Philadelphia natives Michael and Kevin Bacon, recorded a special version of their song "New Year's Day" with members of the All Star String Band. Proceeds from the sale of the CD went to the Save the Mummers Fund.

The parade traveled northward on Broad Street in Philadelphia for decades until the 1995 parade when the parade was moved to Market Street due to construction work on Broad Street at the Avenue of the Arts between Washington Avenue and Philadelphia City Hall. After construction was completed, the parade returned to Broad Street from 1996 to 1999. For various reasons, the parade was moved again to Market Street in 2000. In 2004, the parade was moved back to Broad Street. In 1997, the Fancy Brigades were moved to the Pennsylvania Convention Center, allowing for larger sets, but limiting audience size. In 2011, the Fancy Brigades returned to the parade. Each year, thousands of people participate in the parade, many wearing elaborate costumes costing tens of thousands of dollars to make and weighing well over 100 pounds. The costs for making the outfits plus fees to choreographers and prop designers often far exceed the prizes available. While club fund raisers, hall rentals, and bank loans often cover much of the expense, individual members frequently spend hundreds or thousands of dollars of their own money. As of 2008, the parade began at 9:00 am and ended sometime before 8:00 pm. Fancy brigades performed at the nearby convention center at noon, and in a second, judged show at 5:00 pm. Incidents of foul weather have delayed the parade on occasions by several hours, including 2008. On January 1, 2015, the Mummers began their parade route at Philadelphia's City Hall and headed south along Broad Street to Washington Avenue. The Mummers used the Benjamin Franklin Parkway as a staging area prior to moving to City Hall to be judged. After the judging, the mummers joined the parade heading south on Broad St. The parade ended at Washington Ave, with some clubs still heading east to Second Street for the unofficial "Two Street Parade". If an all day postponement is required for foul weather, the parade is usually held the following Saturday (or Sunday, if Saturday is inclement), as the expensive and fancy costumes are easily harmed by precipitation or high winds. Each year, there is a festival leading up to the parade called MummersFest. It allows fans to tour the Pennsylvania Convention Center to watch the Fancy Brigades build their props and practice for their New Year's Day reveal.

Because of the large number of clubhouses there, South 2nd Street (Two Street) often serves as a party location after the parade, with the center of activity being South 2nd Street and Mifflin Street. Local residents and others in the area for the parade crowd the local bars, clubhouses and sidewalks, sometimes joining in the unofficial parade. With the parade they spent months preparing for finished, the Mummers let loose and celebrate. This multi block party continues well into the night or early morning, with some Mummers not sleeping for twenty four hours straight. In 2009, the city declined to pay for any post parade celebrations on Two Street.

The parade has been accused of including hate speech, racist, sexist, anti LGBT, and culturally insensitive costumes, makeup, and images. The wearing of blackface carried over from minstrel shows in the early 20th century. Growing dissent from civil rights groups and the objections of the black community led to most clubs phasing out blackface in the early 1960s. In 1963, one week before the parade, concerned about their image for a nationwide broadcast, the Mummers banned blackface for the parade. Angry Mummers picketed the parade magistrate's home, leading to a reversal of the decision. Concerned about a possible riot, the city called in extra police for the parade. A 1964 city policy officially banned blackface, but some groups have continued to wear blackface into the 21st century over growing protests. However, as of 2017, the use of blackface is extremely uncommon amongst the parade. In 1985, the South Philadelphia String Band petitioned to use blackface and was denied. In 2009, B. Love Strutters Brigade referenced the charges of discrimination filed against Joey Vento of Geno's Steaks in the city's Commission on Human Relations. In the skit, "Aliens of an Illegal Kind", Arabs had long beards and turbans, Mexicans wore sombreros, and Asian women were depicted as geishas", The Philadelphia Inquirer reported. In 2013, The Ferko String Band offered "Ferko's Bringing Back the Minstrel Days". The 2015 parade again featured blackface, along with a satire of the Black Lives Matter titled "Wench Lives Matter". In 2020, two Mummers were banned from future parades after wearing blackface. In response, mayor Jim Kenney said the city would end the parade "if Mummers leadership does not make immediate changes to better control the parade". City Councilmember Cindy Bass introduced a bill that Mummers who wore blackface risk a $75 fine and a five year banishment.