News & Features Feedback
New This WeekAround TownMusicFilmArtTheaterNews & FeaturesFood & DrinkAstrology
  HOME
NEW THIS WEEK
EDITORS' PICKS
LISTINGS
NEWS & FEATURES
MUSIC
FILM
ART
BOOKS
THEATER
DANCE
TELEVISION
FOOD & DRINK
ARCHIVES
LETTERS
PERSONALS
CLASSIFIEDS
ADULT
ASTROLOGY
PHOENIX FORUM DOWNLOAD MP3s

  E-Mail This Article to a Friend
Dead can dance
Forget Halloween. This year, think South of the Border.
BY GENEVIEVE RAJEWSKI

When Deb Colburn started selling Day of the Dead merchandise 15 years ago, the Mexican folk art raised more than a few shoppers’ eyebrows. "People asked what was with all the skeletons," recalls Colburn, who owns Nomad. "They wanted to know if I was a devil worshipper. Now, everybody seems to know what Day of the Dead is."

During El Día de los Muertos, Mexico merrily celebrates the reunion of the living and the dead. People believe that angelitos (the souls of lost children) arrive on November 1, with adult souls following the next day. Families build altars to the deceased, offer the spirits’ favorite foods, and light candles. Marigolds are strewn about, as the flowers’ strong scent is believed to beckon spirits from the heavens.

Nomad carries sugar skulls ($1–$2), which are placed on altars to represent the deceased and often bear their names in colorful icing. You can also pick up sugar-skull molds ($9/set of two) or, for a twist on tradition, Frida Kahlo sugar/chocolate molds ($9.50/set of six). And at the store’s fifth annual Sugar Skull Workshop ($20) on October 27, you can take home as many skulls as you can decorate.

In addition to ofrendas (offerings) of food and drink, most altars bear calacas — handmade wooden skeletons depicting the deceased’s continuation of worldly occupations or enviable social activities. At both Nomad and Buckaroo’s Mercantile, you’ll find calacas representing office workers, graduates, mechanics, bar flies, Elvis, dogs, and more ($5 and up).

The grinning Victorian skeleton drawn by José Guadalupe Posada, a turn-of-the-century Mexican engraver and political cartoonist, is credited with the birth of Day of the Dead iconography. At Buckaroo’s Mercantile, you can outfit your pad with a Posada coaster set ($14/set of four), glass and tin boxes ($14), or devotional "Seven Day" candles that burn for a week ($12). Posada skeletons also adorn Buckaroo’s baby-doll and classic T-shirts ($17–$20) in a variety of colors, and Newbury Comics carries two black Posada T-shirts ($14.95).

For more Day of the Dead style, look to Buckaroo’s imported mesh bags ($11) and glass pocket mirrors ($5). A skull necklace ($22) from Nomad complements the black Day of the Dead halter top ($28) found at Buckaroo’s Mercantile.

Those seeking domestic touches will find Mexican tin skeleton magnets ($2.50) and ornaments ($4) at Nomad, as well as a large painted terracotta platter ($72). Meanwhile, Buckaroo’s offers potholders ($7) and a hand-painted beaded curtain ($60).

Although Day of the Dead’s increasing popularity in America has mirrored collectors’ growing appreciation of Mexican folk art, Colburn cites the holiday’s attitude toward death as an equally large part of its appeal. "I think it has come to our country because people want to deal with death in a healthier way," she says. Unlike Halloween, Colburn notes, "Day of the Dead has no scary or evil undertones."

Where to find it:

• Buckaroo’s Mercantile, 1297 Cambridge Street, Cambridge, (617) 492-4792, www.buckmerc.com.

• Newbury Comics, various locations, www.newburycomics.com.

• Nomad, 1741 Mass Ave, Cambridge, (617) 497-6677.



Issue Date: October 24 - 31, 2002


Archive of our Urban Buys
Back to the News & Features table of contents.
  E-Mail This Article to a Friend

home | feedback | about the phoenix | find the phoenix | advertising info | privacy policy | the masthead | work for us

 © 2002 Phoenix Media Communications Group