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"Some people thought people would make fun of us," Sharer recalls. "But we had 15,000 people show up and it's going to grow exponentially."
Mobile recently upped its commitment to the dessert, making the MoonPie hoist the Southeast's preeminent New Year's Eve celebration and dedicating an additional $25,000 to marketing the event. This year's festivities include live music, a gala ball and the slow rise of the snack.
"Everyone we knew does drops," Sharer says, explaining why Mobile's MoonPie defies New Year's Eve gravity. "Since the moon does rise, we decided to rise it up over the city."
Mobile's relationship with MoonPies dates back to the 1970s, when an all-female Mardi Gras krewe took a trip to Tennessee. City leaders had lately been admonishing krewes for beaning Fat Tuesday parade-goers with Cracker Jack boxes, a popular throw since the 1950s, intensifying the search for an affordable treat without sharp corners.
The vacationing krewe stumbled upon MoonPies, which -- as Sharer says -- were "round and soft and really tasty." Please note that Mobile does claim to be the original parade-rolling city for Mardi Gras (not that other destination two hours or so west).
Celebrants in Mobile now purchase more than 4 million MoonPies annually, indulging in all eight available flavors. While the banana variety has been described by local reporters as "often ignored and sometimes despised," Sharer says it was the obvious choice for the New Year's honor.
"The big electric one is banana because it shows up better," she says.
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12-24-2009 @9:14PM Chuck said... Moon Pies at Mardi Gras go a LONG way back before the 70's...........there's a local attorney (who shall remain nameless) who as a youth worked at a moon pie distributorship........HE glommed a box of moonpies to throw from his float at Mardi Gras.............THAT was the origin of the tradition............BTW..........there's also an obscure reference to him in the movie........."Forrest Gump"..........UMS '74
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12-31-2009 @7:20AM Michelle Morrow Allen said... Mobile doesn't just "claim" to be the 1st Mardi Gras "parade-rolling" city-----we are!!! We had Mardi Gras BEFORE New Orleans! New Orleans got help to begin theirs from Mobile!
Mobile celebrated Mardi Gras in 1703, somewhere about 15 years before New Orleans was even a city!! Mobile has never claimed it's Mardi Gras is as huge as New Orleans', just that it was celebrated here first!!!
Check on wikipedia.org put "Mardi Gras in Mobile" in the search box.... it has the info....
Funny, 10 years ago on Fat Tuesday, I signed onto AOL, and imagine my suprise the headline claiming it was Mardi Gras and that it originated in New Orleans!! I did send an email to AOL, informing them of their mistake..... lots of people make that mistake, they think just because New Orleans' Mardi Gras is bigger that's where it began....but not so.... Mardi Gras began in Mobile, ALABAMA...
Sincerely,
Michelle Morrow Allen
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12-24-2009 @11:58PM Bill said... Hey Chuck, do you know the eight flavors? I recall vanilla, bananna, strawberry, and chocolate. what are the other 4 flavors of moon pies.
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12-25-2009 @12:42AM leethas said... The new flavors are lemon, orange, peanut butter, and mint. I've heard the peanut butter is good and I might try the mint but lemon and orange? Not so sure.
12-25-2009 @12:54AM Susu said... I got hit with one during a parade, and it cut my forehead. That was my last damn mardi gras parade I attended.
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12-25-2009 @4:01AM hunky said... what's so strange about this?????
we drop giant pickles and a 10 balogna in PA towns.
Whatever it takes to get a crowd in the downtown area.
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12-25-2009 @4:29AM Ol' Joe said... Moonpies replaced watermelon as the food that causes a frenzy.
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