EMPIRES children: THE PEOPLE OF TZINTZUNTZAN FOSTER 



127 



mates that the priest sends 50 kilos to be worked 

 for each of the "three Thursdays" of the year 

 (p. 214). The resulting candles are sold by him 

 at prices about 50 percent higher than those cur- 

 rent in stores. Presumably they have greater 

 spiritual value than the ordinary commercial 

 variety. 



Apparently about a day and a half are re- 

 quired to work 5 kilos of candles, not counting 

 the time the wax is bleaching in the sun. A half 

 day is spent melting the wax and making the 

 leaves for bleaching, and a full day is neces- 

 sary to make the candles. Large candles are 

 easier, since they build faster and require less 

 pouring. Approximate costs are as follows: 



3 kilos 

 2 kilos 

 Wick . 



wax at $7 $ 21 



paraffin at S3 6 



1 



$ 28 



If the worker is paid $1 a kilo by the priest, 

 his salary amounts to a little over $3 daily, 

 somewhat above the prevailing wage for com- 

 mon labor. 



MISCELLANEOUS OCCUPATIONS 



Nearly all women's clothing is made in Tzin- 

 tzuntzan, and except for pants and overalls, 

 most men's clothing. Work is done on sewing 

 machines, mostly by women, though there are 

 a fev,' men who sew in their spare time. Eight 

 women do enough sewing to be considered 

 seamstresses. Most families have a few small 

 tablecloths, scarcely larger than large napkins, 

 for the tiny tables brought out for guests. These 

 are embroidered with cross-stitching, usually 

 red and blue, sometimes showing humans and 

 animals, sometimes with simple geometrical 

 designs. Unfortunately most of the designs are 

 now taken from the needlepoint design books 

 sold in all Mexican markets, and the taste is 

 correspondingly bad. 



A dozen women, mostly elderly widows, do 

 odd jobs, the most important of which are clothes 

 washing and tortilla making. When a potter 

 is busy she often dislikes to take time off for 

 these domestic chores, preferring to pay some 

 one else to do the work. Clothes are washed, 

 when in large quantities, at the spring in Ojo 



de Agua. Average rates are: shirts, dresses, and 

 aprons, SO. 10; pantalones, $0.20; children's 

 garments, half price. Clothing is returned un- 

 ironed unless extra payment is made, and the 

 sender must furnish soap. The standard rate 

 for making tortillas, with the dough furnished, 

 is $0.40 for a cuarteron of 4 liters. Carmen 

 Pena guesses the time at 2 hours, which is prob- 

 ably low. Four or five families have hired 

 maids who live with them and help with all 

 household work, receiving about $10 a month 

 plus room and board. Usually they are wid- 

 ows, middle-aged women without other means 

 of support. Such work is considered distinctly 

 menial. 



Natividad took on a young girl 2 years ago 

 who came to her, in her own pungent phrasing, 

 "without any underclothing." Nati remedied her 

 most urgent need and paid her $9 a month for 

 a short period. Hired men are as rare as hired 

 women. Primo Calderon, who is one of the 

 town's wealthy men, has a 16-year-old or- 

 phan who helps with all the chores around the 

 house, with the plowing, planting and harvest- 

 ing — whatever the work may be — and in re- 

 turn receives room, board, clothing, and a few 

 pesos a month. Three young boys of 11 or 12, 

 one an orphan, live with families to help the 

 little they can, principally watching the cattle 

 in the hills, receiving an occasional peso or so, 

 but not enjoying a fixed salary. 



Three men are part-time shoemakers. Per- 

 haps it would be more accurate to say "repair- 

 ers," since most of their work consists of patch- 

 ing up the old huaraches of the townsmen. They 

 receive from $0.20 to $0.75 for an average 

 repair job. 



WAGE LABOR 



Working for wages has, apparently, for many 

 years been a part of the labor picture in Tzin- 

 tzuntzan. Aside from the small jobs just men- 

 tioned, this principally took the form of field 

 work on the part of individuals who had little 

 or no land themselves, or who were unacquaint- 

 ed with other callings. Altogether, however, it 

 seems probable that the supply of labor was 

 relatively limited, since most individuals pre- 

 ferred to share crop or farm on some other 

 basis. With the pushing through of the high- 



