quiroga: a MEXICAN MtnsriciPio — brand 



175 



opening for the head. This cobija or serape serves 

 as overcoat, jacket, muffler, saddle pad, blanket, 

 etc. Formerly, we were told, the leading and 

 almost only color combination was black deco- 

 rated with red. Although black-and-red scrapes 

 still predominate, other combinations are present, 

 such as black with blue, black or brown with 

 white, black or brown with red and white, and 

 even blue with white. The plaid scrapes worn 

 by some of the men are imported. The typical 

 serapes are of dark colors and coarse weaves with 

 simple pleasing designs in red. Two or three 

 weavers make woolen yard cloth (sabanillas) and 

 simple light blanket "coats" (gabanes). There are 

 two sizes of serapes recognized: a cobija grande 

 (which is predominant in the cool climate of the 

 higlilands) 2)i Spanish yards in length (about 

 2.09 meters), and a smaller cobija comun. It 

 takes one man about 3 weeks to elaborate a large 

 serape, doing all of the work from washing the 

 wool to weaving. Normally two or three individ- 

 uals working together on the different operations 

 will turn out a large serape in one week. Skill 

 and rapidity vary individually, and the rates run 

 from one-third to an entire serape per man per 

 week. The finished product is sold by finished 

 weight if the wool is provided by the weaver, and 

 by work-weight if the prepared wool is provided 

 by the customer. A large serape requires from 3 

 to 5 kg. of wool, according to the tightness of the 

 weave, the average being 4.5 kg. The finished 

 serape costs from $10 to $25 a kilogram, according 

 to the skill and reputation of the weaver and 

 whether the wool was supplied by the customer or 

 elaborated by the weaver. The finished serape 

 in 1945 cost the customer in Quiroga anywhere 

 from $45 to $125, with a mean somewhere between 

 $50 and $70. The net gain to the average weaver 

 was about $2.75 a day. The complete elaboration 

 of a serape consists of: (a) Purchasing dirty wool, 

 washing, drying, sorting, and carding; (6) pre- 

 paring the yarn by spinning and dyeing; and (c) 

 weaving the fabric. Unfortunately we took no 

 notes as to the nature of fulling the fabric, if any. 

 Probably fewer than 250 cobijas grandes or their 

 equivalents are produced a year. This is not 

 enough to supply local demand. The production 

 of woolen cloth (in pieces 25 meters long and 20 

 pulgadas — 46 to 50 cm. — wide) may amount to 30 

 or 40 pieces a year. 



There are two cotton-weaving establishments. 



which employ from four to nine individuals. In 

 1945 there were but three weavers (tejedores) and 

 one spinner {hilandera or tornera) working. One 

 shop with three looms had been converted in part 

 into a chair factory, and only one person was 

 employed in weaving. The other shop contained 

 two cloth looms {telares de cambaya), one belt loom 

 {telar defaja), and one shawl loom (telar de rebozo), 

 as well as two spinning wheels and several reels. 

 All this equipment was wooden and was made in 

 Quiroga. Raw materials consisted of skeins of 

 cotton yarn and dye materials purchased in 

 Morelia and Quiroga. The operations performed 

 in the shop were: (a) Dyeing the yarn or thread 

 the appropriate colors (red, orange, black, blue, 

 yellow, etc.) with aniline dyes, (6) drying the 

 skeins in the sun on racks in front of the shop, (c) 

 running the thread onto reels, {d) mounting the 

 threads in the warping frame, and (e) weaving the 

 fabrics. Most of the cloth woven was a fabric 

 termed cambaya, and the weavers are known as 

 camballeros. These terms are reminiscent of the 

 Indian cotton fabrics which at one time were 

 exported from the Cambay area north of Bombay, 

 and the local cambaya might be called a coarse 

 striped muslin much like the bengal and cambaye 

 of India. The cloth is woven in pieces 25 meters 

 by 55 cm. One weaver can turn out one piece or 

 roll of cambaya a day, or 15 small rebozos, for 

 which he receives $2 in wages. Frequently 

 the camballero will "rest" by shifting from one 

 type of weaving to another, including belts or 

 sashes. In Quiroga the weaving of rebozos and 

 fajas is quite unimportant, and most of these 

 articles are brought in from Paracho and other 

 villages of the Tarascan Sierra. 



Other types of weaving are practically non- 

 existent. There is a one-legged man who divides 

 his time between being the town's only shoeblack 

 (bolero) and weaving hats of palm fiber brought 

 up from the tierra caliente. Also, there is one 

 family of traveling salesmen (comerciantes ambu- 

 lantes) who weave baskets and make a variety of 

 toys while home from their selling trips. Although 

 there is a large local demand for mats (petaies), 

 for many purposes — from use as sleeping mats to 

 wi-apping for chairs and furniture — all of the 

 petates are purchased from weavers in Santa Fe, 

 Tzintzuntzan, and other lake communities. The 

 tules along the lake shore near Quiroga are on 

 Santa Fe property, and they are harvested 



