Fun Facts

• Each year 750,000 King Cakes are sold in New Orleans, while 50,000 more are shipped by over-night mail to other states.

• New Orleans native and Jazz legend Louis Armstrong often signed his letters with "red beans and ricely yours".

• New Orleans' streetcars were featured in the Tennessee Williams play "A Streetcar Named Desire." The streetcar line to Desire Street is no more – in 1948, it became a bus line.
  
• Based on the Crescent City in the 19 th century, New Orleans Square is a themed area exclusively at Disneyland and features French Quarter-styled buildings, live jazz music on the street and the Royal Street Veranda.

• Brush up on your carnival terminology:
• Krewe - a general name for the organizations and clubs that take part in the festivities. They are all non-profit organizations.
• King Cake - an oval, sugared cake; sometimes with a plastic baby baked inside. The person that gets the baby is the "king" and has to buy the next round of cakes.
• Throws - inexpensive trinkets thrown from floats.

Sources: www.womma.org, www.mardigrasunmasked.com