I guess I knew the Bradford Pumpkin Show was canceled already, but it didn't click until today. In this area, the Pumpkin Show was infamous in the greatest of ways. I only got to go once growing up, and in high school, we were warned about the risk of attending.
Now, I graduated in the late '90s, so things that were against the rules back then were slightly different. School shootings were not a real concern, and aside from the student that had serious asthma triggered by stink bombs, there wasn't a lot of the school administration warned us about. Except for the Pumpkin Show.
Now, we knew that guns and knives were not allowed. It was mentioned once or twice a year, and was treated with the idea of "No Shit Sherlock!" The Pumpkin Show was considered to be a threat ten times worse. What kind of dark debauchery was to be found? Sex? Drugs? Rock and Roll? Nope. (Well, maybe some Rock and Roll.) According to the school, something ten-fold worse. Confetti. Seriously, announcements the week leading up to the festival warned that anyone caught with a bag of Pumpkin Show confetti would be suspended on the spot, without mercy.
I don't know how I came upon my only visit there growing up. My dad took me before he moved to SC, so he was probably there to take pictures for the newspaper or something like that. I wish I could remember more about going, but I did get a foam covered nunchuck, a bag of confetti, and from a game, a doubloon. I remember it was either blue or purple, and that's it. I was told it had something to do with Mardi Gras and the floats, and it fascinated me. I really don't know what happened to it, sadly. I don't know what Krew it was from, or any of that.
It wasn't until my second trip to New Orleans before I got some doubloons. To be fair, the first time I went was in November for a race, but the second time around was in February of this year. Some of the early parades were underway, but the big ones would be the weeks following. Still, I got a doubloon. Sort of.
 |
| Well, a wooden nickel... |
One of the last days in NOLA on my most recent trip, we happened on a flea market of sorts. That's really the best way for me to explain it, an outdoor tourist flea market. While there, I found a booth selling doubloons out of a bowl, and I bought a few. Maybe it was twenty. I forget. I gave a few away when I got back, cheap souvenir.
 |
| Not all of them were PG. This one is. |
I don't know if I would bother getting more of the doubloons on another trip though. I am glad to have the ones I got, but aside from the wooden nickel, I didn't see their parades. I don't think I would go back during the busier Mardi Gras weeks, I can't afford it. (If someone else wants to pay, sure...) I do want to go to their aquarium though. (It is next to the Puma store, where I like getting my running shoes.)
