Alley of happy events
Celebrating a special event? Whether engagement, wedding, or new-born baby Amany Abdel-Moneim finds all the appropriate paraphernalia in Darb Al-Barabra
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From top: at Darb Al-Barabra careful preparation goes into special events; brides for sale
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Within walking distance of Ataba Square and off of the traffic nightmare which constitutes Al-Geish Street is a winding alleyway, two metres wide, which specialises in paraphernalia for all types of happy events; this is Darb Al-Barabra, literally the "Nubian Alley". Lining the narrow walkway are dozens of shops selling traditional accessories for weddings, the celebration of a new birth known as subou' which is held seven days after the birth of a child, as well as items for Christmas and the New Year. Invitation cards, bonbonnières, cosmetics, candles, wedding veils, bridal bouquets and sweets are all on display in a lively symphony of colours.
Ali Othman, who is 71 years old and a Darb Al-Barabra old- timer, explains that "the alleyway was first inhabited by Armenians and Greeks but the place became known as the Nubian alley because it was also the location of a small society serving Nubians migrating to Cairo from Upper Egypt". The new arrivals, according to Othman, would come to the society to register their names and wait for work placement.
This society was eventually moved to the Abdin area and the governorate renamed the alley after Kamal El-Husseini, an officer in the Egyptian army who died in the 1956 Tripartite Aggression. But tradition has prevailed and the name Darb Al-Barabra continues to identify the area.
"Before 1952, Egyptian Jews ran the business of this alley," recounted Othman. "At that time they traded vegetables, fruits, meat and goullash, a special kind of pastry, as well as liquor," he added. That was back in the days when ceremonies were taken seriously. "Every Saturday the Jews would cover the ground in the alley with feathers celebrating their 'Chicken Feast'. Rabbi Nessim would stand in the middle of the alley next to the Jewish temple and slaughter the chicken, signalling the start of the Saturday rituals," Othman added.
According to the old timers of the alleyway it was these tradesmen who first introduced the little firecrackers known as bomb, now an essential requirement to any child's Eid (feast) festivities.
Seventy-eight-year old Taha Mahmoud remembers the good old days of the alley. "When I first came to Darb Al-Barabra in 1945, only Armenians and Greeks were working in the pastry business," Mahmoud recounted. He started working at the Tsepas pastry factory where he learnt how to make Western pastries, candies and biscuits in addition to various kinds of syrup.
Mahmoud scoffs at the ware the alley has on offer these days. He refuses to compare the old wedding bonbonnière -- the porcelaine or glass boxes usually filled with sugar-coated almonds called milabbis and wrapped in tulle -- with its present- day counterpart. "In the old days, they were made of silver or Sèvres porcelaine imported from France. The clientèle for those items, of course, were the rich Egyptians and foreigners. For the average person the market also offered porcelaine imported from China and Japan. But today, the market is flooded with locally produced bonbonnières," he lamented.
Down the street, Sayed Ismail points out that, while in the past bonbonnières were indispensable for weddings, engagements or the celebration of a new birth, many today consider these goods a luxury which only the few can afford. "The bonbonnière was, in the past, very much a status symbol and the more expensive the better. But it was all done in very good taste. Usually the bride would bring a sample of the material of her wedding dress to make sure that all the accessories -- bonbonnières, candles and flower bouquets -- matched. Today, with economic conditions being what they are, couples are very careful where they spend their money," said Ismail.
Tahany, who has been wrapping bonbonnières since 1980, notes that, "now we wrap plastic toys and statues with the sweets. The prices vary from LE1.5 to LE15 for subou', and LE5 to LE35 per piece for the wedding gift, depending on the quality." Mohamed Saad, who works with Tahany, explains that some grooms now prefer to give their brides a doll dressed as a bride on the day after the wedding instead of the traditional bonbonnière. This doll, according to Saad, costs between LE25 and LE35.
According to Mahmoud Amin, who has been specialising in subou' accessories since 1978, people still buy the traditional ghourbal decorated with tulle and coloured ribbons in which the baby is placed during subou'. However, instead of the traditional pottery candle holder -- candles play an important part during subou' -- some people now buy decorated plastic dolls with a light attached: a bride for a baby girl, and a knight sporting a sword for a baby boy.
Off Darb Al-Barabra, a modern building stands among the old. The sign on the top bears the name of the uncrowned queen of the district, Umm Saber. According to Khamis, one of Umm Saber's sons, she made elaborate tiaras and veils for brides. "My mother was very selective and made veils and tiaras only for the very beautiful and the very rich. She taught her sons everything about this art and now we are famous in our own right," he said.
The Sabers' work is well known in many Gulf states and even Europe. "We receive visits from Gulf princesses who come to Cairo in the summer and order customised wedding tiaras, candles and veils. They have also been ordering a popular new accessory -- a Sawlagan, which is a stick covered in precious stones held by the bride instead of the bouquet," added Khamis. Veil prices range between LE75 and LE750 and a Sawlagan can cost as much as LE400 depending on the quality of the stones.
Umm Saber's sons also make the special wax crowns and candles used in Christian weddings. "The two crowns are tied together with a ribbon and when one of the partners dies, the ribbon is cut and the crown is buried with the deceased," explained Khamis. And then there is the badra, described by Samiha Shihata as "the most important element of a traditional marriage procession". Shihata explained that badra used to be made up of small round golden coins. "But now they use different elements, including small blue eyes, an open palm and shiny, coloured paper cut into small pieces," she explained. According to her, people like to use badra and candles during a marriage procession to protect the bride from envious eyes.
Encroaching on these festive shops is an increasing number of chandelier specialists. Mohamed Salem, who works in one of the oldest lighting shops, which opened in the late fifties said that, "a large number of shops started specialising in chandeliers and lamps because they produce a higher profit, and faster." The ware on display is relatively cheap. According to Salem, "in the past people were much more selective. Now they just go for the cheaper item regardless of taste or quality."
Darb Al-Barabra is no longer the master of ceremonies it once was, but for the many who visit it every week it is still the place to go when celebrating happiness.
