La Lagunilla Market
The market is one of the largest in the city and consists of three sections: one for clothing, one for furniture and one for foodstuffs, mostly selling to lower income customers.
The market is surrounded by small stores and street vendors, many specializing in furniture and dresses and other needs for formal occasions.
On Sundays, the number of street vendors grows significantly, a weekly “tianguis” market called a baratillo which traditionally sells used items.
One section of this baratillo has developed into a market for antiques, which has attracted higher income customers and even famous ones such as Carlos Monsiváis.
The plaza of this church was the site of area's main outdoor market or tianguis, through the colonial period to the late 19th century.
[4] It and neighboring Tepito have been the focus of a number of films, televisions series and other artistic creations as it is considered to be iconic of Mexico City's lower classes.
Eugenio Derbez is a television producer who specializes in creating series based on the real life of ordinary Mexicans.
He has sent actors and actresses to do “field study” in Lagunilla and other markets to learn how to imitate correctly the vocabulary and accents of the people they will portray.
[10] The market area was the subject of a late 1990s exhibition of black and white photographs taken by Manuel Alvarez B. Martinez in the 1960s and 1970s.
Those closest to the fixed market buildings often sell items similar to that which is inside, and those located near the formal occasion shops emulate these as well.
This informal market has grown such that vendors with stalls and vehicles now routinely block several of the main avenue's six lanes.
[17] Another issue is that many roving vendors sell beer and customers in the market proper can be seen drinking their purchases as they walk through the aisles.
[18] This informal market has made La Lagunilla one of the main centers for the production and sale of bootlegged CDs and DVDs.
There is a popular saying in Mexico City that these markets “one can gather the pieces needed to build a helicopter.” These markets consist of a multitude of vendors selling parts of automobiles, televisions, bicycles, radios, computers, refrigerators, toys, stoves, clothes, shoes, chips, hens, turkeys, fighting cocks in various colors and more.
[2] The types of antiques and collectibles sold is vast, but some of the most common include books, magazines, coins, toys, handcrafts and furniture.
[1][2][21] However, other finds include silverware, movie posters, jewelry, photographs, LP records, watches, cameras, 19th century brass beds, appliances and musical instruments.
[5] During the 20th century, this antiques market developed a following among many of Mexico City's wealthier residents and has boasted of a number of famous frequent customers.
[5] Other shoppers in the antiques market have included Dr. Adam Corder, Jacobo Zabludovsky, Jesús Reyes Ferreira, Manuel Contreras, Eduardo Manzao and Ava Vargas.
[5] Some of the markets most notable collector clients have included bookseller Carlos Ibarra, who amassed a collection of about 30,000 postcards, architect Jorge Zavala, noted for his restoration of historic monuments, bought books, masks, bottles, ceramics and crafts from the 19th and early 20th centuries.
German engineer Ernesto Richheimer was called the “Señor de las Cucharas” (Lord of the Spoons) because of is “incurable” affection for these utensils.
His collection of 2,300 pieces was displayed at the Museo Nacional de Historia and included samples from ancient times to the present and from all over the world.
This collection was amassed over forty years and included stamps, postcards, scorecards, handcrafts by artisans such as Teresa Nava, Susana and Teodoro Torres, and Roberto Ruiz, photographs, popular toys, albums, calendars, comics, newspapers, notebooks and cookbooks.
[23][24] The market has also had famous sellers, such as Ignacio Contreras (better known as “El Chacharitas”) who was noted among collectors as able to obtain all kinds of valuable objects at elevated prices.
[3] The activities of ancient Aztec markets were commented upon by Bernal Díaz del Castillo and other conquistadors who marveled at their size and variety of merchandise.
However, in 1609, the viceroy of New Spain banned this type of merchandise from the plaza, citing health and public security concerns.
[5] The area was reorganized into formal neighborhoods called “colonias” as Mexico City grew outside of its traditional confines in the latter 19th century.
This first market was built between 1912 and 1913 as a series of wooden stalls with roofs by engineers Miguel Ángel de Quevedo and Ernesto Canseco.
The government decided to replace the wooden stalls with new, modern warehouse-type constructions consisting of three sections built by architect Pedro Ramírez Vázquez.
