{"id":4556,"date":"2019-10-28T09:00:47","date_gmt":"2019-10-28T13:00:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/rbsc\/?p=4556"},"modified":"2026-07-06T15:45:12","modified_gmt":"2026-07-06T19:45:12","slug":"a-halloween-trip-to-mexico","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/rbsc\/a-halloween-trip-to-mexico\/","title":{"rendered":"A Halloween trip to Mexico"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

While Halloween has its origins in the Western Christian feast of All Hallows (or All Saints), it has since spread to various other cultures. So too, the Special Collections holdings that relate to celebrations on or around Halloween are to be found in a variety of subject areas. This year, we bring you materials from our Latin American collections.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jos\u00e9 Guadalupe Posada and the skull iconography of Mexico’s Dia de Muertos<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

by Erika Hosselkus, Curator, Latin American Collections<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As many Americans prepare to celebrate Halloween on October 31, Mexico and Latino residents of the U.S. ready themselves for Dia de muertos<\/em> (Day of the Dead). Celebrated between October 31 and November 2, this holiday corresponds to the Catholic All Saints\u2019 Day (known as Todos Santos<\/em> in Mexico during the colonial era and nineteenth century) and All Souls\u2019 Day, but is uniquely Mexican in its iconographic emphasis on calaveras<\/em>, or \u201cskulls.\u201d Candy and papier-mach\u00e9 skulls adorn altars prepared with offerings to the deceased (ofrendas<\/em>). Toy skulls and skeletons are sold in stores. And, party-goers decorate their faces with elaborate skull makeup.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Today\u2019s Dia de muertos skull iconography is closely associated with the work of Jos\u00e9 Guadalupe Posada (1852-1913), a Mexican lithographer, woodcut artist, engraver and etcher renowned for his satirical broadsides and flyers. During the latter half of his career, Posada worked with the printing house of Antonio Vanegas Arroyo to produce loose sheets commemorating political events, natural disasters, crimes, and festivals. Often, his original work featuring calaveras meditates on death, even if it doesn\u2019t directly refer to Dia de muertos, as is the case with the two broadsides here, \u201c\u00a1Calavera Zumbona!\u201d and \u201cLa Calavera Taurina.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/a>
Special Collections Broadsides, BS-1900-03-F1<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
\n
\"\"<\/a>
Special Collections Broadsides, BS-1900-03-F1<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

\u201c\u00a1Calavera Zumbona!\u201d<\/a> (\u201cThe Mocking Skull\u201d) is a satirical piece that pokes fun at various artisan groups in Mexico City, including carpenters, tailors, candy sellers, painters, barbers, pulque sellers and more while also pointing to the universality of mortality and death. Carpenters are described as drunkards while tinsmiths are overly-loquacious. Practitioners of all crafts wind up, in the image created by Posada, as skulls in a cemetery in the end. The offerings of food and the small, round \u201cpan de muertos\u201d bread roll in the lower left-hand corner of the image are both traditional of Dia de muertos.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/a>
Special Collections Broadsides, BS-1900-02-F1<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

\u201cLa Calavera Taurina\u201d<\/a> is an homage to deceased bullfighters, who had been eaten or consumed by the \u201ctaurine skull\u201d of death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Both of these prints are on very thin paper. \u201c\u00a1Calavera Zumbona!\u201d is an imperfect print with lines striking out parts of the text and main image. These elements attest to affordability of the materials used by the Vanegas shop and to the rapidity with which broadsides were printed.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Posada was rediscovered by Mexican Revolution-era muralists not long after his death in 1913. Among them, Jean Charlot was among the first to highlight Posada\u2019s calaveras. In 1947, he worked with the still-operating Vanegas Arroyo printhouse to issue 450 copies of a bilingual portfolio entitled 100 Grabados en madera por Posada<\/em> (100 Woodcuts by Posada<\/em>)<\/a>. Here, Charlot reproduces the smaller and lesser-know woodcuts produced by Posada. Many feature calaveras accompanied by verse. One (#12) even commemorates Todos Santos<\/em> (All Saints Day \/ All Saints\u2019 Eve \/ All Hallow\u2019s Eve) by name.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Charlot translates the verse as follows:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

12. All Hallow\u2019s Eve.<\/strong>
\nAt last the day of all the dead
\nhas arrived.
\nOn which they rejoice, replete
\nwith pleasures without
\nnumber.
\nIn place of sad mourning for ourselves,
\nLet us, with laughs and pulque,
\ngo cry in our cups.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/a>
Es una verdad sincera
Lo que nos dice esta frase :
Que s\u00f3lo el ser que no nace
No puede ser calavera.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
\n
\"\"<\/a>
– No te f\u00edes de las gentes
Son muy traidoras, deveras.
– Pues, a m\u00ed, las calaveras,
Nom\u00e1s me pelan los dientes…<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
\n
\"\"<\/a>
\u00a1Ay, ay, ay! la muerte ya viene
Y a toditos nos agarra,
Hay que suerte tan chaparra,
Pues creo que ni madre tiene.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

Happy Halloween to you and yours
\nfrom all of us in Notre Dame\u2019s Special Collections!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Halloween 2016 RBSC post: Ghosts in the Stacks<\/a><\/em>
\nHalloween 2017 RBSC post: A spooky story for Halloween: The Goblin Spider<\/a><\/em>
\nHalloween 2018 RBSC post: A story for Halloween: “Johnson and Emily; or, The Faithful Ghost”<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

While Halloween has its origins in the Western Christian feast of All Hallows (or All Saints), it has since spread to various other cultures. So too, the Special Collections holdings that relate to celebrations on or around Halloween are to be found in a variety of subject areas. This year, we bring you materials from … Continue reading A Halloween trip to Mexico<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1936,"featured_media":4575,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[75054,12646],"tags":[77960,381302,77948,77931],"class_list":["post-4556","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latin-american-studies","category-miscellaneous","tag-broadsides-prints-posters","tag-mexico","tag-otd-holidays","tag-printed-ephemera"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/rbsc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4556","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/rbsc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/rbsc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/rbsc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1936"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/rbsc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4556"}],"version-history":[{"count":39,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/rbsc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4556\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12026,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/rbsc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4556\/revisions\/12026"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/rbsc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4575"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/rbsc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4556"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/rbsc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4556"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/rbsc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4556"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}