QUIROGA: a MEXICAN MUNICIPIO — BRAND 



225 



other than the one with this trade-mark. There 

 are a number of other intoxicating drinks (such as 

 garapina or tepache from pineapple juice, colonche or 

 telonche from the juice of cactus fruits), but they 

 are of minor importance. The whole matter of 

 intoxicating drmks in this area and elsewhere in 

 Mexico has been much coafused by changes in 

 nomenclature, both in time and in space. A 

 whole monograph could be devoted to this subject 

 alone. 



Tobacco is easily the leading drug stuff consumed 

 in the Quiroga area, although most of its present 

 use is neither as a medicine (as in part of colonial 

 times) nor as a ceremonial item (as in prehistoric 

 times). Judging by the remains of pipes, the 

 inhabitants of the Tarascan area were the greatest 

 users of tobacco (at least in pipes) in Mexico pre- 

 historically. At present there is no pipe smoking 

 in Quiroga, and the leading use of tobacco is in 

 cigarettes. During the nineteenth century ciga- 

 rettes were made commercially in Quiroga, but 

 now the majority consumed are imported from 

 the great factories in Irapuato and Mexico City, 

 and to a lesser extent from Zamora, Morelia, 

 Guadalajara, etc. The poorest individuals still 

 roll their own cigarettes, but such brands as 

 Tigres, Luchadores, Faros, and Quintos are cheap 

 enough for most smokers. The smoking popula- 

 tion includes practically all adults (both males 

 and females) and a large proportion of the ado- 

 lescents. Many of the smokers, especially the 

 women and the older men, light cigarettes by 

 moving the cigarettes to the match (conditioned 

 by lighting cigarettes from fires), and hold the 

 cigarette cupped within the hand with the lighted 

 end within (probably a habit induced by the need 

 to eliminate unnecessary use of matches for 

 relighting cigarettes that have gone out). Cigars 

 are rarely smoked; and we saw no use of chewing 

 tobacco or snuff. One booth or estanquiUo (which 

 also handled soft drinks) had the largest variety 

 of cigarettes (about 18 brands including the more 

 expensive and milder Belmont, Monte Carlos, 

 Bohemios, and Virginias, and the more expensive 

 and somewhat strong Alas, Casinos, Fragantes, 

 Rialtos, Elegantes, Cumbres, Delicados, etc.), 

 but the cheap and strong cigarettes mentioned 

 earlier were handled in nearly every grocery store 

 and tendajon. Small boxes of single and double- 

 ended wax matches (cerillos) are most commonly 



carried by smokers. For a pipe smoker these 

 cerillos do not prove very satisfactory. 



So far as we could tell there was little or no 

 smoking of marihuana, and no use of toluache, 

 peyote, opium, and the like. The most popular 

 commercial drugs were of the aspirin family, 

 such as Mejoral, Cafiaspirina, Roberina. In 

 summary, the most popular stimulants and nar- 

 cotics were tobacco, coffee, beer, and sugarcane 

 aguardientes. In most cases these items were used 

 with moderation. 



DRESS 



The dress is predominantly European, and very 

 few items can be considered as of Indian origin 

 although a number of European garments had 

 their prehistoric Indian equivalents. The main 

 differences in dress within the Quiroga area are 

 conditioned by wealth and occupation rather 

 than by habitat and race. The poorer people 

 of Quiroga town dress about the same as do the 

 majority of the inhabitants of the ranches. There 

 is evident more conservatism in dress among the 

 men than women. This is illustrated by the 

 fact that an Indian woman from Santa Fe or 

 Tzintzuntzan can almost always be distinguished 

 from the women of Quiroga by her garb, but a 

 farmer or campesino dresses about the same 

 whether he is from Sanambo, Quiroga, or Santa Fe. 



Some idea of basic dress complexes can be 

 obtained from the results of the 1940 census. In 

 this census traje completo or vestido completo 

 means that the men commonly wore coat and 

 trousers (not necessarily matched), and the 

 women usually wore a one-piece dress (anything 

 from a "Mother Hubbard" to a well-fitted dress). 

 Pantalon is used for the men and youths who 

 habitually wear trousers but not coats. Calzon 

 applies to the men and boys who usually wear the 

 traditional white "pajama" trousers of white or 

 unbleached muslin (manta). Apparently enaguas 

 and jalda were used synonymously and apply 

 to the women and girls who wear some sort of 

 skirt with a separate blouse. This combination 

 is at present typically Indian and rural, although 

 found among mestizas and whites and in urban 

 areas. Bata, camisa, and envuelto are used for the 

 various clothes (wrapper, shirt, swaddling clothes) 

 worn by babies and small children of both sexes. 

 Overal and oberol are used for the men and boys 



