142 



CONSUMER GOODS 



had begun to charge slightly more for the tender- 

 loin, in demand by hotels. This did not influence 

 the cost of meat to the Indians, who always 

 bought meat with bone, at 5 cents. In 1936 a 

 third butcher opened shop and for a while a com- 

 petitor tried to run him out of business by cutting 

 the price; but the resultant price war was short 

 and without permanent effect.'" Pork is sold at 

 8 cents a pound, with bones. 



For years before and during the period of study 

 beef sold at 5 cents and pork at 8. Yet, between 

 1936 and 1940 in the Department of Solola, the 

 value of cattle slaughtered varied between 4K cents 

 and 5% cents a pound and of hogs (table 52) 

 between less than 8 cents and almost 9 cents. 

 Cattle butchered in Panajachel come from the 

 Pacific lowlands; I know nothing of specific cir- 

 cumstances influencing their price. But whatever 

 fluctuations there may be were not reflected in 

 Panajachel retail prices of meat or of soap or 

 candles made from the tallow. The price of both 

 pork and of soup made from hog fat also remained 

 constant throughout the period. Not so the price 

 of lard, which appears to have a complicated rela- 

 tionship with that of com (table 52). In 1935, 

 and until the end of 1936, with the price of corn 

 low, many pigs were well fattened, and lard was 

 cheap. Com prices then rose, and remained high 

 through 1937; hogs, killed smaller, decreased in 

 number and size and the price of lard soared. In 

 1938 corn was moderate in price; the number of 

 hogs rose, but presumably because they repre- 

 sented new litters, they were very small and lard 

 continued high. In 1939, with com cheap, there 

 were a smaller number of fatter hogs and the price 

 of lard dropped. Then in 1940, with com up but 

 still moderate, hogs were evidently killed leaner 



Table 52. — Hogs slaughtered in Solold 



I Data for years 1936 and 1937 from Memorias of the Dept. Agri. (1936i 

 pp. 347-348; 1937, p. 577). Data for year.s 1938-40 from Memorias of Hacienda 

 y Crrdito Publico (1938. p. 593; 1939, p. 695; 1940, p. 724). 



' Data from table 51. 



"IT When one of two butchers took sick I'day.ItheJotherJImmediately raised 

 his price 1 cent. 



than ever but lard was cheaper. These statistics 

 may be very unreliable. That pork (and beef) 

 remain constant in price may indicate an element 

 of inflexible tradition in some prices. That prices 

 of hog-fat soap remained unchanged may be 

 because soap is made of hog fat chiefly when dis- 

 ease renders the animal imfit, for meat or lard; 

 otherwise it is made of beef tallow. 



The price of fowl, not sold by weight, is variable. 

 Turkeys on our standards run very smaU. They 

 range in price from about 60 cents to $1.10; the 

 average may be taken as 75 cents for a 6-poujid 

 bird. Chickens for eating run from 15 cents to 25 

 cents and sometimes 30 cents; informants calcu- 

 lated the average to be 20 cents for a fowl I judged 

 to weigh (dressed) about 2 pounds. 



Lake fish are not sold by weight. Mojarras, 

 sold whole, probably averaged about 20 cents a 

 pound in 1936. The inch-and-a-half-long fish 

 strung four on a straw sell for four straws for 3 

 cents. I cannot hazard a standard price for the 

 smaller fish sold by a "measure" consisting of a 

 beer-bottle cap on which the fish are piled high 

 and around. Crabs, sold in bunches of four, were 

 2 cents a bunch from at least December 1935 to 

 January 1937. 



VEGETABLES 



Since Panajachel produces most vegetables and 

 herbs, it is necessary to fix their prices not only at 

 home, but in the markets where they are sold, a 

 complex matter, particularly with the important 

 onions (table 53). The price is usually low during 

 the dry months, January to May, and high in the 

 rainy season and through November; but it also 

 varies greatly with the number of vendors in the 

 same market at once. The price of onions sold 

 by the bed, the buyer agreeing to harvest and 

 prepare them, depends on the size of the bed, the 

 size of the onions, and the season. The highest 

 price recorded is $10, for a bed about 40 varas 

 (36.7 yards) long, the lowest price, $1.50. For a 

 standard tablon, the average price in 1936 was 

 probably about $2.50. Since the tablon has about 

 6,000 onions, this works out to 42 cents a thou- 

 sand — a saving of 14 cents, or about enough to 

 compensate for the labor of harvesting, trimming, 

 and bunching. 



Onion seed (which can be kept for a rise in 

 price) from about $1.50 to $6 a pound. The 

 differences are both seasonal and annual; and the 



