HISTORY AND ORGIN OF THE CALL OUT FAVORS

HISTORY AND ORGIN OF THE CALL OUT FAVORS

The origin of call out favors for Mardi Gras balls may never be firmly known, but we do know that the early French settlers brought with them the custom of King cake parties. These parties, held for the young and old were private and held in the homes of the French settlers. The parties were held to introduce young ladies into society gradually with family and friends in attendance. A special dessert---the King cake was eaten at the parties which had a bean or frozen Charlotte bisque doll in the cake. The person who received the piece of cake with the bean or doll was selected as the host or hostess of the next party. An eligible young male receiving the bean or doll could select a young lady to be his Queen. Etiquette during these time forbid young ladies from receiving expensive gifts from anyone but family members. Only flowers were permitted to be sent to young, unmarried ladies. Jewelry items were considered to personal an item to give a young girl, since they would touch her body.

Twelfth Night Revelers, the second oldest Krewe of the New Orleans Mardi Gras, adopted the King cake as a method of selecting their Queen and maids. Since as a Queen, the young lady would have a bouquet, crown and scepter we can infer that the gold bean became the original favor. The maids would in turn have a silver beans. As the New Orleans Mardi Gras Krewes grew in number and members began to belong to multiple organizations it is not without reason to assume that members’ spouses and the debutantes would enjoy additional the benefit of the organization in recognition by way of a small trinket or as it was later named the call out favor.

The name call out favor came from the practice of seating female guests who had been selected for a specific dance in a reserved section. One of the Krewe officials would stand with the masked member and “call out” the name of the lady chosen for the specific dance. This was done for two purposes. To maintain the anonymity of the Krewe member’s identity and to allow a Krewe member to dance with a lady he may not have been formally introduced to, but wished to honor with a dance. Some dances may have been arranged between members so that their daughters would always have a partner. Pins that were given during this period were made or purchased from Gorham, M. Scooler, Coleman E. Adler (later just Adler), Husamann, George Nami, Bastian Brothers, James Toca, Bernard & Gunning, and Frantz & Optiz. These trinkets in someway represented the theme of the ball and usually had the name of the Krewe and year of the Ball. Many of the items were designed specifically for the Ball to match the invitation and parade theme.

As times and fashion changed and cost became a factor Krewes began giving costume or fashion jewelry which has continued to the present using some of the finest makers of the products such as: Miriam Haskell, Polcini, Lenore Doskow, Coro, Napier, Ora, Weiss, Kramer, Truart, and Trifari. Adler’s continued to provide favors.

Today many of the Krewe jewelry favors are designed by a new crop of designers. Mignon Faget, India Stewart, Maurice Milleur, Courtney Petersen and Adler among others lead the way. Many of the older Krewes are reproducing favors from the past when a descent of the original King or Queen reigns. Many of the young Krewes have taken to getting their favors made in China. Some of the current “Super Krewes” do not have favors at all since they do not have a ball, but just the supper dance.

Call Out favors have evolved to the point that each Krewe can have five are more favors for a particular year. The King, Queen, and Captain may all have a favor to present to special friends. Some Krewes have more than one favor that members can purchase. In 2007 one Krewe had three different pins for Krewe members. One old line Krewe has a store each year for products that bear its name.

The history of the Call Out favor reflects the social history of jewelry making and fashion in New Orleans with each changing decade. The fascination with the variety and creativity of the designers continues to delight collectors and stands as a statement of the creativity of the Krewes, but social record.