Ever wonder how humanity came to throwing tiny bits of multicolored paper at one another as a mode of celebration? No?
…How about now? This article is a fascinating read on the etymology of confetti by D. Graham Burnett. Read the entire article at Cabinet Magazine. In the words of Arnold Schwarzenegger, “Do it now!”
Burnett takes the reader through the etymology and historical significance of confetti, connecting its emergence, existence, and influence with Carnival confections, tribal ritual sacrifice, contemporary athletics, and even the commercial use of silkworms.
Antoine-Jean-Baptiste Thomas’s 1823 lithograph depicting the throwing of confetti during Carnevale in Rome. Courtesy De Agostini Picture Library, A. Dagli Orti, and Bridgeman Art Library. From cabinetmagazine.org
Confetti: Tinsel meth of the masses. Paper shrapnel. A phyllobolia of trash, scattered over those to be sacrificed in the twentieth century. -D. Graham Burnett
rogue/rave 