CONSUMER GOODS 



153 



A woman's carrying cloth 1% varas (about 1 

 meter square) takes: 



Yi pound of white cotton yarn, which cost in 193G_ $0. 16^.^ 



1 pound of red cotton yarn, which cost in 1936. _ . 66;^ 

 H ounce of green cotton yarn, which cost in 1936- . . 02 

 H ounce of another color cotton yarn, cost in 1936. . 02 



The twisting of the cotton takes about a day 

 for a pound; Toribia did not do this herself, but 

 had a woman do it for S cents a pound, the usual 

 rate in 1936. The warping, which she did herself, 

 took her 2 hours.'** The weaving would take her 

 4 daj's, but she usually had another woman do it 

 and this cost her but 25 cents. The sewing is 

 done with the same thread, and takes but a short 

 time. The total cost to her came to about $1.25 

 plus some 2 hours' work, not counting that inci- 

 dental to buying and arranging with a weaver to 

 work. Had she done all the work herself, the cost 

 would have been about 87 cents plus nearly 6 

 daj^s' work. If purchased, such a cloth would 

 cost about $2, so there is some profit even if labor 

 is calculated at the man's rate. 



Other carrying cloths vary in cost according to 

 size; since the cotton is the greater part of the cost, 

 and most of the work involved varies directly with 

 the size, there is a close relationship between size 

 and cost."^ Probably every woman has 1 -meter 

 square cloth for carrying large things, including 

 babies; but probably the average size of all such 

 cloths is about 1 vara square. One may conclude, 

 therefore, that the average Panajachel woman's 

 carrying cloth takes 70 cents' worth of cotton 

 thread and about iji days of labor. 



Men's sutes are smaller; since the colors are 

 usually only red and green (and not white, which 

 is cheaper) they probably cost some 60 cents in 

 cash and take only about 3K days of work.'" 



A man's sash takes 12 ounces of red cotton and 

 a half ounce each of green, yellow, and purple (at 



2 cents the half ounce). The material thus costs 

 54 cents. The twisting takes a day, and the warp- 

 ing about 2 hours. The weaving is a matter of 



"• If the warping Is given out to another woman, according to this inform- 

 ant, she must not only be paid tor the time but must be given 2 penny rolls 

 and a cup of coffee. The woman comes to the house to warp, and the food 

 is customary "to keep the woman from talking." It Is a "shame" not to 

 know how to warp. 



I" In 1940 an Indian woman tried to sell me an oversize carrying cloth that 

 she had "made." She said it had taken 2 pounds of red yam at $1.10 per 

 pound and "much" tie-dyed yam, which is expensive. She let out the work 

 to a professional who charged her 80 cents. She refused to sell for less than $6. 



'" In 1941 I was told that a stUe is worth 60 cents, but this is certainly too 

 little. 



2}^ days, but it takes an additional 2 or 3 hours 

 to fix the fringe. Thus, if the woman does all her 

 own work the sash costs her 54 cents and about 

 4 days of time. Such a sash is worth about $1 as 

 here there is a profit only if a woman's time is 

 valued at less than 11 cents a day. The woman's 

 sash is larger than the man's, and on the average 

 probably costs, as in one case that I have, 70 cents 

 in cotton and 5 days' work. When figures are 

 woven into the sash, in the case of the feminine 

 garment, the cost of silk adds about 5 cents, and 

 probably another half day is required. 



Cahones take 12 ounces of white cotton and a 

 pound of red; the cost in cash is thus 92 cents. 

 The labor amounts to almost 7 days.'*' An 

 informant in 1941 told me calzonea were worth $2. 



When shirts for young boys are home-woven 

 and tailored, the cost comes to about 13 cents in 

 cash (for 4 ounces of cotton yarn), and about 2 

 days' work. The value of the garment is thus 

 about 35 cents.'** 



The cost of huipiles has already been mentioned. 

 A huipil takes 4 pounds of cotton, which costs 

 $2.66.'*' Twisting the yarn takes 4 days, the 

 warping 1% days. The ordinary weaver can then 

 weave only the two ends, after which she must 

 find a specialist for the center portion where the 

 figures come. To weave the ends takes 6 days, 

 and it takes another 4^ days for the center. The 

 sewing and embroidery of the neck is also fre- 

 quently done by the specialist, who then spends 

 another day and a half. The owner of a huipil 

 pays the specialist 66 cents in cash, 50 cents for 

 the weaving, and 16 cents for the sewing and fixing 

 of the neckline. But in addition she has to give 

 her 4 pounds of meat (32 cents) and tortillas and 

 tamales requiring 4 pounds of corn (5 cents). If 

 silk is woven into the huipil the added cost, in 

 cash for the silk, is about 50 cents. One may say, 

 therefore, that if a woman does all her own work 

 an ordinary huipil costs $2.66 in cash and 17K 



'*' The husband of this informant, whose clothes areotherwiseold-fashioned 

 no longer used home-woven caUones in 1937. He bought two varas of white 

 cloth for 26 cents, and the tailoring — done by his wife — was a matter of but 

 half a day. He said he liked this kind better because it is finer and "doesn't 

 hurt him." Although more economical than the home-woven kind, the 

 difference is not as great as it sounds because these drawers last no more than 

 half as long as the others. I have heard of this fashion from no other source 

 and am disregarding it. 



1*8 This Is about twice what a young child's shirt costs when bought in 

 the market, but it lasts much longer. The great majority of shirts — and all 

 those for youths and men — are bought. 



M> There is one case of a woman who uses the cheaper white cotton instead 

 of the brown for the background of her Ituipil. 



