Zulu Social Aid & Pleasure Club

Zulu is New Orleans' largest predominantly African American carnival organization known for its krewe members wearing grass skirts and its unique throw of hand-painted coconuts.

The musical comedy performed by the "Smart Set" at the Pythian Temple Theater on the corner of Gravier and Saratoga in New Orleans included a skit where the characters wore grass skirts and dressed in black makeup.

In 1909, Metoyer and the first Zulu king, William Story, wore a lard-can crown and carried a banana stalk as a scepter.

Therefore, we resent and repudiate the Zulu Parade, in which Negroes are paid by white merchants to wander through the city drinking to excess, dressed as uncivilized savages and throwing cocoanuts like monkeys.

[3] During the 1960s, the organization, with the support of the Mayor and chief-of-police, gave up black make up but continued the tradition of the parade, wearing grass skirts and keeping the identity of the king secret.

The working men of Zulu could not afford similar throws, and decided to purchase coconuts from the French Market since they were unusual and relatively cheap.

In 1987, the organization was unable to renew its insurance coverage, and lawsuits stemming from coconut-related injuries forced a halt to the tradition.