The early Swedish Mummers appointed a leader, or “speech director”, who had a little dance step and who recited a rhyme like this:Įven during the Revolutionary period, New Year’s Day continued to be a day of carnival and friendly calls.
Groups would travel from house to house, sing songs, and perform dances - all to be rewarded with food and drink. Those who “shot in” the New Year became New Year’s Shooters, and thus the name much later evolved to officially become the New Year’s Shooters and Mummers Association. Most people carried firearms for protection in those early days of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and it did not take long before pistols and muskets joined with bells and noisemakers to create the sound of a New Year. Masqueraders paraded the through the streets of Philadelphia. Later they extended their period of celebration to include New Year’s Day, and welcomed the New Year with masquerades and parades of noisy revelers. When they came to Tinicum, just outside of Philadelphia, they brought their custom of visiting friends on “Second Day Christmas”, December 26th. The Swedes were Philadelphia’s first settlers. Mummery in America is as unique to Philadelphia as Mardi Gras is to New Orleans. The tradition of Philadelphia Mummery started in the late 17th century as a continuation of the Old World customs of ushering in the New Year. The use of masks and different costumes were incorporated from the Greek celebrations of King Momus, the Italian feast of Saturnalia, and the British Mummery Play. This took the form of a dramatic entertainment popular in the 16th and 17th centuries, and following usually an allegorical theme, which embodied pageantry, music and dancing. At this time, England and Germany celebrated their Christmas Mosque, resulting in riotous indulgence. There was a musical background for the capers of the multitude with songs and ballads befitting the joyous occasion.Īnother early custom was the Florentine Carnival usually held in the beginning of Lent – a day set aside by monks of the Middle Ages for the lords of misrule and the abbots of unreason.
SATURNALIA MUMMERS FREE
Age and rank were forgotten for the fiesta and all persons were free for the day. Slaves sported robes from their masters, and the patricians wearing fantastic costumes, roamed the streets with their slaves. Unrestrained merry-making marked the pagan Saturnalia and Carnival, the ancient Roman festival of Saturn that began on December 17th. They made calls on friends, they exchanged gifts and it was customary for some of the gifts to bear greetings for a Happy New Year. Every nation had its festivals at one time or another, each marked by parades and displays of fanciful costumes.Īs early as 400 BC, Roman laborers observed the feast of the Saturnalia in honor of their god, Saturn, and the reaping of the harvest. Tracing back through the mazes of history that led to England, Wale, Scotland, Germany, ancient France, and pagan Rome and Greece, we find mummery has influenced customs and perpetuated many interesting traditions. Mummers would lead the burial procession of the Pharaohs in extravagant costumes, playing finger cymbals, tambourines and other rhythm instruments. Some of the earliest mummers date back to early Egypt.
But the tradition developed from a blending of cultures. The parade participants take their name from Momus, the Greek god of ridicule. And Mummery is as ancient as man’s dream of getting outside of customary life and as old as his imagination.
Who are the Philadelphia Mummers that participate in the New Year’s Day Parade? Simply, the Philadelphia Mummers are costumed entertainers welcoming in the New Year. The History of the Mummers and Philadelphia Mummery Who and What Are Mummers?
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