A few scenes with a lot of objects. I'd call the second one a head shop, but the guy in the mask would not appreciate that. (He's real - he's one of the sculptors, and the mask keeps him from breathing in bits of float.)


I'd attempt to put photos into some kind of order, but why bother when the warehouse isn't? Because materials that come back here aren't reused in bulk (i.e., each piece may find a home in a different float next year), there's no need to keep like parts together. So I jump from one of Bacchus Krewe's main floats to an eerie sun, an angry duck, and Chris Paul.


One Krewe went with several flower floats. Each petal was hand crafted from cardboard and hand painted. Krewes may spend hundreds of thousands of dollars each year on floats, and a similar amount on millions of beads that they toss away to spectators. Millions - per Krewe, per parade. Even though Mardi Gras was months ago, there are still beads hanging from the flowers on these floats. When enough parts are ready for next year's theme, all the flowers will be stripped off and thrown away - they're not foam, so there's no reuse potential - and the basic float will be redone from the ground up. It sounds horrifically wasteful, but Mardi Gras is the primary engine that drives New Orleans' spirit and keeps tourists coming year-round.


Some of the more interesting and psychedelic bits among the flora. I don't want to insinuate that there is mind alteration going on - the outlandish, trippy look has been years in the making and is part of the tradition now.


I think the Yoda came out best of all my photos. Somehow, it looks like a ray of light is emanating from his hand as he charges forward. Pure, unstaged coincidence. You see plenty of floats and figures based on or including cornucopias - part of Mardi Gras is a spring fertility festival, and they are here to bring good luck for a plentiful year ahead.


Remember the Africa theme I noted on the first page? These elements are blatantly central to that parade. I imagine the leopards will be reused, and there is likely to be repurposing of the giant tribesman behind them. Less certain is the fate of King Kong. He and Queen Kong sat next to each other in one side of the warehouse among a lot of unrelated items. Our tour was challenged to find the missing Baby Kong. Well, nearly at the end of the tour, there he was shoved against a wall. A large gorilla may prove useful in a future float, but how do you destroy Kong(s)?

Into and through the museum
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