Oh! Dem Golden Slippers

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', published 1991 under ISBN 9780962892110 and ISBN 0962892114.