Traditional Mas Characters - Jab Molassie Pillow Case

Add a splash of colour to your home with our Traditional Mas Characters pillow cases. Note: This product is only the pillowcase - pillow filling not included.

• 100% pre-shrunk polyester
• Fabric weight: 8.1 oz/yd² (275 g/m²)
• Fabric with a linen feel
• Hidden zipper
• Machine-washable

Traditional Mas Characters - Jab Molassie

There are several quite different varieties of Devils in the Carnival.  They are nearly always called "Jabs". Jab is the French patois for "Diable" (Devil), and Molassie is the French patois for "Mélasse" (Molasses).

The Jab Molassie or Molasses Devil is one of the oldest forms of Devil Mas. He wears wings, horns, has a wire tail and carries a pitch fork and usually strikes fear in the hearts of both young and old.

He was usually covered in a sticky black substance, which was in the old days, molasses. Its origins date back to days of the sugar estates, when freed slaves, who formerly toiled on the sugar estates, daubed themselves with the familiar and readily available molasses (a direct by-product of sugar cane) as a means of disguising themselves and playing a cheap mas. Today, the Jab Molassie has evolved to include blue devils, red, green, white, yellow and even Jabs covered in mud, and chocolate syrup.

Some of the Jab Molassies have a rope or chain tied around their waists, which another Jab Molassie holds in an effort to restrain them as they jump around wildly. The Jab Molassie is accompanied by the beating of biscuit or pitch oil pans. They also carry a whistle used to dramatise their movements.  They will throw themselves to the ground and run around trying to intimidate and frighten people in the hopes of getting paid a dollar or two.

To avoid contact with him, many bystanders are willing to "Pay the Devil".

References/Credit:
-National Carnival Commission of Trinidad and Tobago