Oh! Dem Golden Slippers The Story of the Philadelphia Mummers

New Year's Day in Philadelphia means the Mummers Parade. In colonial times, Philadelphians welcomed the new year by shooting off guns, masquerading & visiting door to door. Today, Philadelphians celebrate the new year with fabulous world-class, working-class parade. Princes & clowns, serpents & devils, young & old, all blend into one brightly colored, undulating throng of glittering robes & plumed headdresses. The sound comes before the sight. "OH! DEM GOLDEN SLIPPERS," barely heard at first, swells as these "Shooters", playing banjos & glockenspiels, come out of the heart of the city & onto Broad Street. Hundreds of thousands of parade-goers line the route & cheer the strutting, strumming Mummers. Folklorist & Philadelphian Charles E. Welch, Jr. traces the fascinating development of the Comics, the String Bands & the Fancy Clubs. Amusing anecdotes & Mummer reminiscences are sprinkled throughout the text. Over 90 striking color & black & white photographs spanning 100 years of parade history bring the spectacle to life. For Philadelphians, OH!, DEM GOLDEN SLIPPERS is a family portrait, for students of American social history, a valuable reference. And for anyone who loves people & their celebrations, the book is pure delight.Welch, Charles E., Jr. is the author of 'Oh! Dem Golden Slippers The Story of the Philadelphia Mummers' with ISBN 9780962892103 and ISBN 0962892106.