Marcella M. Laneaux
DAY 059 Marcella M. Laneaux photographed exclusively for the 100 Men Hall People Project (100MHPP).
My parents started coming around 1955-56 for the organization. They saw plenty of musicians here and they were always at the Mardi Gras ball. I started coming way after that and I was sneaking in at 15 years old and dressing for the Mardi Gras parades and balls. Fats Domino came from New Orleans. It was crowded and they had dancing. They had food in the kitchen; they would cook up a lot of food. Fried fish, fried chicken, poboy sandwiches. When I was old enough to come here by myself, my best memory was dancing to a band from New Orleans. Most of the bands that came through here were from New Orleans. I danced on stage as go go girls. I had bathing suits made into an outfit. I put sequins on it. It was short and I had fringe all over it. I used different material over a two-piece that had sequins. I wore light blue boots with fringe all around them. I was in a band called Carl Gates (he was the manager and played the guitar; he’s from Gulfport, MS). Me and my cousin name Brenda Green, she danced with me, she was a go go girl with me. This was my first bar room; we couldn’t go to the ones on Sycamore Street like the Krack; we could come here. I started coming when I was 16 or 17, but I didn’t dance till I was grown and had children. I can’t get all the credit because Brenda was dancing too. We danced in here with the bands. There were go go girls from Slidell that danced with the bands out of Slidell. My sister, Alvina Nichols was queen of Mardi Gras, she was in the Merry Makers. My daddy was James “Sun” Rosemond.
(Photo by: Gus Bennett | The 100 Men Hall People Project)
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