Devils Lake inter-ocean. (Devils Lake, Ramsey Co., Dakota [N.D.]) 1884-1905, 1905-03-17
IA FROI in M EXICO

/ a
BREAKING THE Plr4ATA DURING THE
CHRISTMAS FESTIVAL.
This Mir,th Provoking Paatame IL the
Great Social and Fun Making Fea-
ture of tine Season-DressinE and
| Filling the OLA.
Christmas in Mexico is not the typ.
/ Heal Christmas Of cold and snow and
Ice but one Of bright, warm sunshine,
cioudiess blue skies, flowers In profu-
sion, trees In full foliage and 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. s}
In every Mexican house great prep
arations are made for what is called
| the 'pinata.' Every child begs and
serapes and saves the centavos for
weeks and months ahead. All kinds OF
articles are made especially for this
ceremony, and every family vies with
it's friends and neighbors to have its
pinata more beautiful and fanciful than
any one else's. t3 S5ss.
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.
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 90 centavos,
but the ola is the least expensive part
of the game.
The body Of the ola for a woman is
covered with tissue paper; then GRIN
i
bodice is built up draped to represent
a loose white waist, and above this is
4 placed false face. The hair Is made
with black paper, braided into one long
plait at the back. as the women wear
their hair in Mexico. Sometimes a
white tehuana addresst 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
4 bons, forming long streamers, and sill
4 yer and gold tinsel, glass balls and col
ored lights all help to make the flower
pinata very beautiful. The possibilities
for dressing these pinatas are endless.
In 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 as original dressing
for the pinata as possible, and it can
be made very extravagant ornament.
In the families Of wealthy MeKicans
the luxury OF. the pinata often mounts
into thousands.
After the ola is decorated to the taste
it is filled. 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. s
Christmas night the pinatas are car
ried in great state into the sala and
suspended from the ceiling one at q
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
i generally large gathering They all
sit very demurely on chairs ranged in
a row around the walls Of the room.
One person is constituted master Of
ceremonies the eldest son or daughter
4 Of the house. He or she stands in the
4 middle of the room. Near by Is a jar
or umbrella stand filled with apisaco
i canes or sticks. When everything Is
ready a child or grown person is Sc
lected and called by name She comes
forward and is blindfolded.
Then the fun begins. The person
blindfolded is turned round and round
until she loses ali 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 it. She is given three
chances. If she fails to hit it she sits
down amid laughter and }ridicuIe. II
she hits it without breaking 1t she Is
entitled to small prize.
And so it goes on, one after another
being called up, blindfo ded and given a
i cane and three chances to break the
pinata. Finally one more fortunate
than the rest succeeds in giving hard
enough blow, and, crash. the pinata
falls to the grounds in hundreds Of bits
and its contents are scattered far and
IL wide. s n NJ. 4
a wild scramble ensues. Everybody
PUSHES forward to gather as much OF
the spilled contents as possible.
B The fortunate breaker Of the pinata
gets q handsome prize and is awarded
the seat Of honor. He or she sits down
Il and is debarred from another trial al