Traditional Mexican handcrafted toys
[1][2] There have been finds of what may have been toys from the Mesoamerican period, including ceramic figures of dogs and jaguars with wheels at Olmec sites, a musical instrument called a sonaja, whistles and dolls with movable arms and legs.
[4] Many of Mexico's traditional toys have their origins in the colonial period, when new crafts and European style playthings were introduced by missionaries.
Other toys related to this day included small burros made with corn husks, decorated with paper flowers.
For the feast of Anthony the Great, small cages with crepe paper birds were popular and sold outside of churches, but this tradition has disappeared.
[1] Another important category from the colonial period to the present have been miniatures, with those of painted clay and wire extremely common in all parts of Mexico up to the mid 20th century.
[15] For example, the Terán Market in Aguascalientes is home to the Zabalas family, which has sold handcrafted toys for over twenty years, brought from places such as Michoacán, Jalisco and Guanajuato.
[8] Another was held by the Franz Mayer Museum in Mexico City, which featured toys from fourteen different collections, ten of which were to private individuals.
Although the provenance of this group is uncertain, similar examples were made and sold in San Juan de los Lagos, Jalisco and Salamanca, Guanajuato, some decades ago as well as Oaxaca .
[19] The collection contains an important whistle figure from Ocumicho, Michoacán in the form of a devil-animal, one of the oldest surviving examples of its kind.
[12] The collection includes a set of clay toys made by artisan Aurelio Flores of Izucar de Matamoros, Puebla, which is known for its Trees of Life.
Even rarer are figures painted with natural varnishes and colors made from materials such as prickly pear juice and tree resin as these are.
[22] They have been made from many different types of materials including wood, cloth, tin, papier-mâché/cartonería, porcelain, clay, palm fronds, corn husks, straw, seeds, scrap metal, glass, and more.
Generally, these depict witches, bullfighters, devils, horses and clowns as well as famous characters such as Don Juan Tenorio and Doña Inés.
In the early 20th century, these marionettes also included more modern and international characters such as Popeye, Charlie Chaplin, Cantinflas and soldiers.
Blanca Molina designs about fifty different kinds of dolls each year, and herself makes about 200 that are generally sold in specialty stores.
[28][29] The Miss Lupita project, headed by Carolina Esparragoza received government funding to hold workshops and other events with the aim of reviving the tradition of making the dolls in Mexico City, with new designs.
[30] The most common traditional toy still made are miniatures, generally reproductions of real world people, creatures, and objects, sold as collectibles.
Miniature market scenes, similar to those made by the Aguilar family in Ocotlán, Oaxaca, and ceramic bands from Michoacán and Guerrero are often models of real-life equivalents, thereby making them invaluable tools for a better understanding of Mexican culture.
[33] Two that remain are the Judas figure for Holy Saturday and piñatas, originally used to celebrate Las Posadas but now also used for birthdays and other special occasions.
Atzompa produces toy animals such as coyotes, monkeys, deer, bulls, pigs, and more, many of which are depicted playing musical instruments such as clarinets, horns, and drums.
[5] In Jalisco’s main ceramic centers, Tlaquepaque and Tonalá, a number of toys stand out for their realistic features, especially miniatures of charros on horseback, mariachis, and famous people.
Yalita, Guerrero makes animal figures such as ducks, lions, goats, and dogs with both realistic and fantastic features.
Artisans in the Metepec, State of Mexico, make miniatures in glazed black clay, mostly decorated with gold and red painted designs.
Salitla, Guerrero make wood toys, mostly animal figures painted wine-red and magenta, which include rabbits, birds, flowers, fruit, and leaves.
Ixtapan de la Sal and Tonatico in the State of Mexico make animals figures from a local wood that is white.
San Miguel de Allende makes soldier and musician figures from sheet metal painted in bright colors.
In Mexico City and Oaxaca, a wide variety of animal and other figures are made of sheet metal, especially roosters, horses, and butterflies, which are painted in enamels.
Alfayucan, Puebla and the Mezquital Valley in Hidalgo weave figures from palm fronds, reeds, thin sticks and staw to make items such as small birds, baskets, and cradles.
[15][40] Traditional toy makers have looked for new market niches, for example creating more decorative pieces for export and for holidays such as Halloween.
[38] Some have found success in modeling toys after lucha libre personalities, as international toymakers are not usually interested in those from Latin America.
