Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1905-02-21
A FROLiIty I'm MEXICO

a FROLIt, IN MEXICO
BREAKING THE ,PlNATA DURINo THE
cs4RlsTMAss FESTIVAL.
rhis Mirth Pfovolking Pastime IL the
Great Social and FINN MakinE Fea-
turet Of the Season-Dreasing ana
Filling the Oils. n n
Christmas in Mexico is not the typ
ical Christmas OF cold and snow and
Ice, but one Of bright, warm sunshine,
cloudless blue skies, flowers In profu-;
sion, trees In full foliage and d life Of
out of doors. 81:
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. & VI
In every Mexican house great prep
arations are made for what Is called
the ''pinata." Every child begs and
scrapes and saves the centavos for
weeks and months ahead. All kinds Of
articles are made especially for this
ceremony, and every family vies with
its friends and neighbors to have its
pinata more beautiful and fanciful than
any one else's. ...s 81
The pinata is really an earthenware
utensil which Is in general use for cook
ing. It 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 = yrS
The pinatas are large or small, as the
purse of the purchaser permits. They
are round, pot bellied and very large at
the top. They are sold from door to
door on the streets and in the markets.
They cost only 10, Is or 20 centavos,
but the OLA is the least expensive part
OF the game. @ 9S@
The body of the ola for a woman is
covered with tissue paper; then a Grim
killed. paper dress Is fashioned; then a
bodice is built up draped to represent
a loose white waist, and above this is
placed a 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 a
white tehuana headdress is made of the
lace paper used by bakers and confec-
TONERS. .+ q, .., -.
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
soreda lights all help to make the flower
pinata very beautiful. The possibilities
for dressing these pinatas are endless.
In q large family the mother and
daughters have their own pinatas, and
great secrecy is maintained in the dec
grafton Of the OLA. It is the aim of
each to devise Is original a dressing
for the pinata as possible, and it can
be made a very extravagant ornament
In the families of wealthy Mexicans
the luxury Of the pinata often mounts
into thousands E e. "~
After the ola is decorated to the taste
it is filed. The filling consists of pea
nuts, hazel nuts, hard candies. like
marbles, and all kinds Of Mexican
/ dulces. These dulces are candied fruits.
nut paste, etc.
Christmas night the pinatas are car
ried in great state into the sala and
suspended from the ceiling one at a
time. All the relatives of the family
are present, and as cousins Of the fifth
and sixth degree are recognized and
children are very numerous there is
generally large gathering. They all
sit very demurely on chairs ranged in
. row around the walls Of the room. at
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 is q jar
or umbrella stand filled with apisaco
canes or sticks. When everything is
ready Q. child or grown person is Sc
lected and called by name. She comes
forward and is blindfolded. f
Then the fun begins The person
blindfolded 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 pinata
and try to break 1t. She is given three
chances. II she fails to hit it she sits