{"id":540,"date":"2012-05-04T20:28:00","date_gmt":"2012-05-04T20:28:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cinnamonstudio.com\/blog\/2012\/05\/04\/cinco-de-mayo-2\/"},"modified":"2012-05-04T20:28:00","modified_gmt":"2012-05-04T20:28:00","slug":"cinco-de-mayo-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cinnamonstudio.com\/blog\/2012\/05\/cinco-de-mayo-2.html","title":{"rendered":"Cinco de Mayo"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\nThere occurs, occasionally, in history instances in which events come to be misinterpreted, misconstrued, misunderstood. In other words, not exactly correct.
\nThe so-called \u201choliday\u201d of Cinco de Mayo is a case in point. Many probably believe that this date is widely celebrated in Mexico as Independence Day. Not so. Firstly it is not Mexican Independence Day (that is in September) and secondly it is not widely celebrated in Mexico, rather it is an excuse for those in the US, especially in the southwest to drink Corona and eat empanadas.<\/p>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\n<\/a><\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\n

Following independence from Spanish rule, Mexico entered a period of conflict for political power and foreign interventions. Heavy debt to several European countries, which Mexico could not repay, gave France an opportunity to expand their sphere of influence and sought to place Archduke Maximilian of Austria on the throne of Mexico City as emperor. As the French marched along to Mexico City they encountered resistance from a small militia of rebels who defeated the larger French army and temporarily stopped the takeover. This occurred in the state of Puebla and it is here that Cinco de Mayo is indeed celebrated today. Incidentally, the French returned and Max ruled Mexico for 3 years until he was \u201cdispatched\u201d, so to speak. So, it is the Battle of Puebla and the brave men under General Zaragoza that is honored on May 5. <\/p>\n

All this notwithstanding, those who wish to start the summer patio scene early flock to their supermarkets, who have devoted valuable floor space to displays of Mexican beers (which are really, really good), tortilla chips, bright napkins and plastic Margarita glasses, to stock up on the essentials. <\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n
\nSo now I come to a \u201cmisinterpretation\u201d in the textile
\nworld.  Western textile designers from
\nthe second quarter of the 20th<\/sup> C. began to produce, what textile
\nhistorians refer to, as \u201cEthnic\u201dpatterns. 
\nThese were simplified, stereotypes of what the western world considered
\nfolkloric characteristics of other countries. 
\nFor example, a Bavarian gentleman in leather shorts and knee socks
\nholding a large beer stein served by a blond, buxom girl in a long skirt and a
\nlow-cut blouse.  Or a group of young
\nchildren wearing wooden shoes frolicking in a field of tulips with windmills in
\nthe background.  You get the drift.  These were never meant to be derogatory,
\nalthough certainly not politically correct. They were merely misrepresentations
\nof the cultures which were considered exotic or interesting, but came to be
\nmotifs or symbols of these peoples.  And
\nthousands of yards of such fabrics were made into tablecloths, curtains and
\npillows and sold, along with ceramic ashtrays and figurines of the same
\nilk.  <\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\n<\/a><\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nPerhaps there is no better example of such designs as
\nMexican and south-of-the-border textiles. 
\nSmiling senoritas with baskets of fruit carried on their heads, donkeys
\nwith carts, cacti, adobe walls and men in large sombreros sleeping during
\nsiestas. Now I must confess.  I find
\nthese very charming, with no disrespect to my neighbors to the south and I have
\nbeen collecting them for many years. 
\nAfter all, I need them for my Cinco de Mayo buffet.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There occurs, occasionally, in history instances in which events come to be misinterpreted, misconstrued, misunderstood. In other words, not exactly correct. The so-called \u201choliday\u201d of Cinco de Mayo is a case in point. Many probably believe that this date is widely celebrated in Mexico as Independence Day. Not so. Firstly it is not Mexican Independence…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[102,103,101],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-540","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cinco-de-mayo","category-ethnic-motifs","category-mexican-textiles"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinnamonstudio.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/540","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinnamonstudio.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinnamonstudio.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinnamonstudio.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinnamonstudio.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=540"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cinnamonstudio.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/540\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinnamonstudio.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=540"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinnamonstudio.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=540"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinnamonstudio.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=540"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}