The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1905-02-08
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FEBRUARY 8. 1905.
A FROLIC IN MEXICO
BREAKING THE PlNATA DURING THE
CHRISTMAS FESTIVAL.

Filling the Ola.
Christmas In Mexico Is not the typ
zeal Christmas Of cold Il a snow and
ice but one of bright, warm sunshine,
cloudless blue skies, flowers in profu-
sion, trees In full foliage and a life Of
out of doors.
At least a week before Christmas in
the principal streets Of Mexico arches
are erected from sidewalk to sidewalk,
festooned with wreaths of flowers and
bunting In the national colors red,
white and green. Under the arches
booths are erected, and every toy man
ufactured in Mexico Is on sale.
In every Mexican house great prep
arationS are made for what Is called
the "pinata." Every child begS and
scrapes and saves the centayos for
weeks and months ahead. All kinds of
articles are made especially for this
ceremony. and every family vies with
It's friends aud nelghbors to have its
any one else's.
The pinata Is really an earthenwnre
utensil which is In general use for cook
ing. 1t Is called in common parlance
an ola and Is of brown pottery some
thing like the old fashioned earthen-
ware crooks used In the north before
enamel ware became the fad.
The plnatas are large or small, as the
purse of the purchaser permits. They
are round, pot bellied and very large ut
the top They are sold from door to
door on the streets and in the markets.
They cost only 10. u or 20 centavos,
but the ola Is the least expensive part
of the game.
The body of the ola for woman is
covered with tissue paper; then erin
killed. paper dress Is fashioned; then n
bodice Is built up draped to represent
loose white waist. and above this Is
placed n false face The hair is made
with black paper. braided into one long
plat at the back, as the women wear
their hair In Mexico. Sometimes
white tehuana headdress Is made of the
lace paper used by bakers and confec-
TONERS.
A flower pinata IS decorated with
large paper flowers In every color Of
the rainbow. Red. White and green rib
bons, forming long streamers. and sill
yer and gold tinsel. glass balls and col
ored lights all help 10 make the flower
pinata very beautiful. Tie possibilities
for dressing these pinatas are endless.
In a large family the mother and
daughters have their own pinatas, and
great secrecy is maintained In the dec
Grafton Of the ola. 1t is the aim OF
each to devise as original Il dressing
for the pinata as possible, and 1t can
be made a very eXtravagant ornament.
In the families OF wealthy MeXicans
the luxury of the pinata often mounts
into thousands.
After the ola is decorated to the taste
1t is filed. The filling consists of pea
nuts, hazel nuts, hard candies. like
marbles, and all kinds of Mexican
dulces. These dulces ure candicd fruits,
nut paste. etc.
Christmas night the pinatas are car
ried In great state into the sala and
suspended from the ceiling one ut n
time. All the relatives of the family
are present. and MS cousins of the NTH
and sixth degree are recognized and
children are very numerous there Is
generally n large gathering. They all
sit very demurcly on chairs ranged In
row around the walls of the room.
One person Is constituted master of
ceremonies, the eldest son or daughter
OF the house. He or she stands in the
middle of the room. Near by IL II Jar
or umbrella stand filled with apisaco
canes or sticks. When everything IL
ready n child or grown person Is Sc
lected and called by name She comes
forward and Is bllndfolded.
Then the fun begins. The person
blindfoldcd Is turned round and round
until she loses all knowledge of where
the pinata hangs. a cane is put In her
hands, and she is told to hit the plnata
and try to break II. She Is given three
chances. If she fails to hit ii she sits
down amid laughter ana rdlcule. If
1
entitled to small prize.
And SO 1t goes on, one after another
being called up, blndtolded and given a
cane and three chances to break the
pinata. Finally one more fortunate
than the rest succeeds in giving n hard
enough blow, and, crash, the pinata
falls to the grounds in hundreds of bits,
and its contents are scattered far and
wide.
A wild scramble ensues. Everybody
rushes forward to gather as much of
the spilled contents as possible,
The fortunate breaker of the pinata
gets a handsome prize and is awarded
the seat of honor. He or she sits down
and is debarrcd from another trial Mt
breaking another pinata, AS soon rs
the confusion dies down and order IL
somewhat restored another OLA Is hung
up and the same routine gone through,
So the fun continues until the last pima
ia Is broken. and then the prizes are
awarded
The pinata party is the great social
and fun making feature of the Christ
mas season. After the plnatas have
been broken and supper has been
served there follows dancing. or a tray
cling company of Indians from the
mountains is brought in TO sing and
dance In native costume.
These travelling Indians are some
what like the singing bands which go
around at Christmas time from house
TO house In England. Germany. France
and Italy. They have been known and
popular in Mexico from time immemo
rial The are much in demand during
the Christmas holiday season. -Kansai