The Silver Cradle: Las Posadas, Los Pastores and Other Mexican American Traditions

Waugh, Julia Nott

ISBN 10: 029277625X / ISBN 13: 9780292776258

Published by University of Texas Press, Austin, 1988

About this Item

H4 - Book has some glue residue on the front, lower spine and lower back right side, wrinkling on the back top right corner and top spine, some chipping on the back, top and bottom edges and sides, discoloration, and normal shelf wear otherwise good. The Silver Cradle is the story of a year in the life of the Mexican American people of San Antonio, Texas. During the. Size: 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall.

Seller Inventory # EC1500BB

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Silver Cradle: Las Posadas, Los Pastores and Other Mexican American Traditions
• Publisher: University of Texas Press, Austin
• Publication Date: 1988
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 029277625X
• ISBN 13: 9780292776258
• Binding: Trade Paperback
• Illustrator: Winn, Bob
• Edition: First Paperback Printing.
• Condition: Good
• Dust Jacket Condition: No Jacket as Issued

About this title

Synopsis

Originally published in 1955, The Silver Cradle is the story of a year in the life of the Mexican American people of San Antonio, Texas. During the 1950s, Julia Nott Waugh recorded the performances of such seasonal and religious traditions as Las Posadas, Los Pastores, Las Calaveras, the Blessing of the Animals, the liturgical observances of Holy Week, and festivities of el diez y seis de septiembre (Mexican Independence Day), among others.

Although years have passed and many of the details of observances have changed, the festival calendar and the joy and sincerity of the Mexican American people in honoring its customs and obligations have not disappeared. Now, in fact, a much wider population shares and appreciates the pageantry preserved for us by people like Graciana Reyes, in whose prized silver cradle the Christ Child slept every year at Christmas, and like Doroteo Domínguez, whose annual devotion to presenting a thousand-year-old pastoral epic in his back yard was legendary.

Waugh has done much more than just open a window onto a charming past. She has captured for us one of the true gifts of our Mexican American heritage—the willingness to ritually celebrate the passage of time and to embellish the occasions with sensitivity and fervor. This book will appeal to the general reader as well as to those interested in folk traditions and Mexican American culture.

About the Author

Julia Nott Waugh (1888-1958) was a writer specializing in Texas history as well as Mexican-American customs and folkways.