QUIROGA: a MEXICAN MUNICIPIO — BRAND 



173 



outside caused the percentages in 1945 to change 

 to 63 percent chamaco, 25 percent costurera, 11 

 percent juguete, and 1 percent of the other three 

 sizes. Six of the operators account for more than 

 90 percent of the output. These businesses vary- 

 considerably in organization. The largest (La 

 Entuladora de Quiroga, S. R. L.) began as some- 

 thing of a cooperative, but it is now controlled 

 by one man who is the brother of one of the lead- 

 ing merchants of regional handicrafts. The sec- 

 ond largest enterprise is a partnership between 

 the owner of the flourmill (who provides the chair 

 frames) and a man whose sole business is arranging 

 for the completion of the chairs (bottoms, sizing, 

 varnishing, painting, decorating), packing, and 

 sales. The third largest chair factory is run by 

 two brothers who are primarily general merchants. 

 The other important chair businesses are run by 

 the brother of a handicrafts merchant, the son of 

 the owner of one of the two corn-meal mills {molinos 

 de nixtamal), and a young man who carries on 

 some chair making but whose principal occupation 

 is the storing, packing, and selling of the produc- 

 tion of a number of other shops. When the chan 

 industry was at its height about two freight car- 

 loads were shipped a month out of Alorelia, 

 chiefly to Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, and 

 Mexico City. The chair business is still new and 

 in an experimental period, and it remains to be 

 seen if it will become a stable part of Quiroga 

 economy. Since it is stUl listed as a new industry, 

 it is not subject to taxation. Probably the mak- 

 ing of chairs will sink to a secondary industry as 

 soon as it becomes subject to taxation, especially 

 in view of the fact that all of the materials must 

 be brought in from a distance, and considering 

 the competition afl'orded by chahs made in the 

 States of Mexico, Jalisco, GueiTero, and Nayarit. 

 It is doubtful that the local pine forests can 

 be built up sufficiently to support large-scale 

 production of either chairs or bateas, although 

 tules of the type used for chair bottoms can be 

 cultivated along the lake margin, and the area 

 could become self-sufficient again in the produc- 

 tion of oils {chia, chicalote, linseed) and certain 

 pigments. 



Since the chamaco size chair constitutes about 

 75 percent of all chairs produced to date in 

 Quiroga, it may be of iuterest to outline some of 

 the factors involved in its production. A typical 

 chair of this size has an over-all height of 44 to 46 



cm., the seat is 23 to 25 cm. above the floor, and 

 the seat has a front dimension of 25 to 30 cm., and 

 a lateral dimension of 24 to 26 cm. Approximate 

 average costs of labor and materials per dozen 

 chairs are: $2.56 for lumber and $3.50 for labor in 

 making the frames; $2.00 for weaving the bottoms 

 and $1 for the tule; $3.50 for labor and $1.50 for 

 materials in sizing, varnishing, painting, and 

 decorating; which total $9 for labor and $5.06 for 

 materials per dozen chairs. This provides a grand 

 total of $14.06, although various shops gave us 

 estimates which ran from $11.70 to $16.40. A 

 dozen chairs ready for packing sell for $18; and 

 the packing runs from $3 to $4.05 per dozen. 

 Packing varies from expensive but durable wooden 

 crates and boxes to cheaper but poor wrappings 

 of mats (jietates). The average gross profit is 

 aroimd $4 a dozen, from which must be deducted 

 the costs of storage space, power, and general 

 overhead (including the time of the owners devoted 

 to supervising, bookkeeping, sales, etc.). No 

 figures were available on such costs. The out- 

 standing fact is that the chair industry provides 

 employment (fuU and part time) to 150 to 200 

 people (carpenters, seat weavers, painters, packers, 

 truckers, etc.), and brings in $8,800 (calculated 

 on the basis of a minimum of 4,000 chairs of dif- 

 ferent sizes) or more each month. Of this money 

 about $5,600 is retained in Quiroga as wages and 

 gross profits. 



Although chairs and bateas constitute the chief 

 items of woodwork in Quiroga, there are several 

 others that should be mentioned. The classic 

 decorated chests and trunks (cajas, areas, baules, 

 petacas) are no longer made, but two carpenters 

 ia one household make about sLx petacas a week 

 (at $20 each) which are somewhat like the earlier 

 chests. However, the chests are not made in 

 nested form (i. e., several chests of diminishing 

 size each of which fits into the next larger chest, 

 and each of which has a different lock and key) ; 

 they have simple locks purchased at the stores; 

 and the decoration is inferior to that on the old 

 chests. One old baul (estimated by its owner as 

 70-100 years old) which we examined consisted 

 of six "nested" chests, each of which was decorated 

 on the top and three sides. The decorations were 

 flowers, plants, birds, and monkeys in several 

 colors on a black maquea. The chests were made 

 of pieces of pine lumber fitted with wooden nails 

 or pegs. Several of the chau* shops also make 



