May
6
  Paletas from the Queen of Michoacan Originally uploaded by dry the rain. |
This picture does capture the character of the paleta (ice-cream bar) salesman who are all over Mexico.
If you’ve every wondered what the connection betweeen that state of Michoacan and ice cream is, check out the excellent book True Tales from Another Mexico
In 16 chapters Quinones tells us 16 stories of a Mexico we don’t see as a tourist including the lively story of how the small village of Tocumbo in Michoacan came to so dominate the ice cream business.
Here’s his chapter outline for the ice cream story:
The Popsicle Kings of Tocumbo: In 1946, Ignacio Alcazar, a homeless waif from the village of Tocumbo, Michoacan, established an ice cream shop in downtown Mexico City. That shop he started is the most successful small-business idea in Mexico in the last half century, known across the country as “La Michoacana.” More than 10,000 Michoacana outlets exist around Mexico, most of them owned by people from his village of Tocumbo. Mexico City has more than 1,000 Michoacana outlets. No town with more than 1,000 residents is without one. Only Pemex, the state oil monopoly, has penetrated the country so completely. Tocumbo is “the wealthiest pueblo in Mexico,” in the words of one historian. This is the story of how illiterate rancheros found a way to prosper without having to leave Mexico for the United States.
And the great picture is our photo of the week on Puerto Vallarta Satellite.
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