QUraOGA: A MEXICAN MXnSTICrPIO — BRAND 



189 



and a number of the other craftsmen (e. g., black- 

 smiths, tinsmiths, weavers, and carpenters) have 

 a supply of their products for immediate sale in 

 addition to making items on order. There are 

 several wholesale-retail merchants who specialize 

 in poultry and eggs (two), seeds (three), lumber 

 (one), charcoal (one), chile peppers (one), onions 

 (one), etc. Also, there are numerous streethawk- 

 ers, local peddlers, small merchants who display 

 their goods on the sidewalks and in the arcades, 

 and home-stores which specialize in but one com- 

 modity. Among such merchants are three who 

 sell nothing but lime for making nixtamal, five 

 who have fruit puestos, three who vend sole leather, 

 three who sell shoes and huaraches, one who sells 

 scrapes, one who sells rebozos, one who sells 

 cotton cloth and rebozos, several who handle 

 firewood and charcoal, etc. 



There are five cajones de ropa (cloth and clothing 

 stores) which specialize in "yard goods" (princi- 

 pally cottons and woolens, some silks, and a little 

 linen). However, they also handle overalls, 

 trousers, shirts, dresses, underwear, hosiery, rib- 

 bons, and other items of clothing. In the Portal 

 Hidalgo is located the only jarcierla y sombrereria 

 which handles a variety of items made from agave, 

 grass, and palm fibers, such as carrying bags 

 (morales), cordage, hats, baskets, etc. On the 

 corner of Portal Matamoros and Calle Benito 

 Juarez is a solitary hand-operated gasoline pump 

 and in the associated store is an air compressor 

 and lubricating oil in sealed tins. There is no 

 garage or automobile-parts store in Quiroga, al- 

 though there are two "general mechanics," and a 

 taller mecdnico was being installed at the time of 

 our departure. One merchant maintains a radio 

 agency. 



Although there have been small "curiosity 

 shops" or expendios de curiosidades regionales for 

 a number of years, it is only since 1939 that large 

 and well-stocked stores have come into being. 

 There are now five fairly large and well-stocked 

 stores which handle not only locally made painted 

 bateas, decorated chairs, objects of tm-ned wood, 

 and miscellaneous pieces of furniture, but also 

 pottery from Santa Fe and other nearby com- 

 munities, woodwork from Paracho, and other 

 products of the arts and crafts of northern and 

 central Michoacan. Three of these stores (Villa- 

 nueva, Fuentes, and Villicana) are located con- 

 secutively in the fii'st block of cuartel IV along the 



Calle Nacional between the Calle Benito Juarez 

 and the Plaza de los Martires; a fourth store 

 (Chavez-Anita) is across the street on the opposite 

 side of Calle Nacional; and the fifth and most 

 recent (ViUegas) is two blocks down Benito 

 Juarez at the corner of Galeana-Berriozabal. All 

 five stores started as expendios de bateas y loza 

 (sales places for painted trays and pottery). The 

 first three, which are the largest, have associated 

 shops which provide such items as turned wood 

 (Villanueva) , and chairs (Fuentes and Villicana). 

 The chair shops are run by brothers of the owners 

 of the cm-iosity stores. In addition to the 5 

 large establishments, there are 2 expendios de 

 bateas in the Plaza de los Martires, and several of 

 the restaiu-ants and other stores display small 

 stocks of bateas, masks, pottery, etc. Further- 

 more, there are about 20 merchants who specialize 

 in purchasing bateas, chairs, and pottery for sale 

 in other parts of Mexico. These operators vary 

 in scale from traveling merchants who carry their 

 entire capital on their backs to a few who deal 

 in truckloads or even in carloads. 



AMUSEMENT ENTERPRISES 



There are but a few enterprises devoted to 

 amusement and recreation. Probably in first 

 place would come the saloons or cantinas, of 

 which there are four, one in each of the cuarteles. 

 However, two of the cantinas are merely grocery 

 stores which handle distilled drinks and sell 

 liquors by the glass, and the other two are not 

 elaborate although they are equipped with "juke 

 boxes." There are six "juke boxes" {sinfonolas, 

 radiolas, ruidolas) altogether in Quiroga — two in 

 cuartel IV and four in cuartel I, four of which are 

 installed in gi-ocery or general stores. There are 

 two poolhalls (salones de billar), both in the first 

 block of cuartel II. One has four tables, and the 

 other has three. About 1941 a cinema was opened 

 in Quiroga which lasted until September of 1944. 

 This was reopened in the Salon Tere on Ramon 

 Corona, under new management, in June of 1945. 

 It commonly has two shows on Wednesday, two 

 on Satm'day, and three on Sunday. Perhaps in 

 this paragraph should be mentiaagd the one 

 public bathhouse {casa de ba^is^ bfi ux^^^vestevn 

 outskirts of town, which hafe..,a. tank or 

 five stalls with showers. /In fiddjii^:^ 

 two or three private hon^fe wi#i'%o, 

 water showers where friends and pt'\ 



