Hey Folks- Posting 2 days in a row! Must be my lucky week.
Today is May 5th, but if you are fluent in Spanish or have a Ph.D in partying then you know that today is Cinco de Mayo.
Many believe that Cinco de Mayo is Mexican Independence Day. It isn't. But this day does celebrate a huge victory for the Mexican people against invading French armies at the Battle Of Puebla.
I thought it would be neat to take a look at Cinco de Mayo in the year I was born. So, grab a frosty margarita, put on a sombrero and let's get started.
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| I included these Mexican skeletons to freak my sister-in-law out, just in case she was reading this... |
Cinco de Mayo in Mexico isn't as big of a deal in Mexico as it is in the US. As I mentioned before, this day in Mexican history is all about a military victory. Apparently, the Mexican Army wasn't expected to win. So, their underdog victory became a turning point in that war but it has nothing to do with Mexican Independence. That day is celebrated every September 16th and independence was won from the Spanish, not the French. In fact, it is rather hard to find much on Cinco de Mayo before the 1990s when beer companies and snack foods like Doritos turned it into a celebration of Mexican-American culture and a chance to drink and party.
What little I could find about Cinco de Mayo in '77 mostly involved demonstrations on college campuses. Advocates for Chicano-American rights took to the University of Chicago to protest the treatment of Mexicans in the workforce. They also asked for people to stop buying products that did not pay fair wages to migrant workers (see above.)
Some areas with heavy Mexican and Mexican-American populations such as Los Angeles and parts of Texas did have parades in 1977. Participants dressed in ornamental clothing and rode on floats advertising Hispanic businesses (See below.)
Even the Lawrence Welk Show for the week of May 5 had a special Cinco de Mayo theme as shown from above. Everybody Cha-Cha!
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| Belt buckle from 1977 bearing the Jose Cuervo logo. |
Lastly, I thought I would examine the 2 'official beverages of Cinco de Mayo': Jose Cuervo and Corona. Interestingly enough, the tequila, Jose Cuervo was available nationwide in the US but Corona was not. Though the beer made famous with a slice of lime was crafted back in 1925, the beer didn't appear on store shelves in the US until 1979!
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| Pre-1979 items such as this 1977 mirror ad are rare and highly collectible. |
Until next time...
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