Title: Making Tortillas - Mexico
Artist: The Philadelphia Museum
Silver gelatin photograph, 1910s.
Image size 9 1/2 x 12" (241 x 304 mm).

Indian corn or maize (Zea mays, Gramineae) is the most important cereal of Mexico as well as of the United States. In prehistoric times, maize was, to many Indian tribes, the symbol of plenty, and the planting and harvesting were attended with symbolic dances and religious ceremonies. North American Indians, Cliff Dwellers, Aztecs, Incas, and other races, all ground up the grain, some in stone mortars and some on "metates" as this Indian woman in modern Mexico is doing. Mexico exports no corn, but imports considerable quantities from the United States. Nevertheless the total corn crop of Mexico is very large. The consumption is proportionally larger than in the United States, because a larger proportion of Mexicans use corn as one of their staple foods. Tortillas are the bread of the "peons" or common people. In making the ' 'tortilla", corn is first soaked in lime water, which loosens the hull, and is then ground for some time on a "metate", a curved or flat stone slab. On this, it is rolled with a stone, shaped much like a rolling pin. In this photograph the younger woman is grinding corn on a metate. Small pieces of the dough are worked between the hands, tossed and patted and flattened out, until no thicker than a knife blade, after which they are thrown upon a hot "comal", a flat iron affair something like a griddle, one of which is shown in the center of the picture. The cakes are never allowed to brown and are without salt or seasoning of any kind. The photograph is typical of life among the native Indians and half-breeds of Mexico. It shows us a scene in the chaparral district in summer time. All the cooking is done out of doors. The fuel consists of dry branches, chiefly from the mezquite tree; and a few crude earthen pots constitute the kitchen outfit. The blanket hung up on the tree to the left is the steady companion of the Mexican. The man leaning against the mesquite tree, wears a sombrero, the characteristic Mexican hat. Maize was entirely unknown in Europe before the discovery of America, and the name corn was a general term which meant grain, including wheat, rye, oats, barley, millet, etc. Corn is raised now in all parts of the world where it will mature. In production of corn the United States exceeds all the rest of the world combined. Illinois and Iowa are our principal corn states, while Kansas, Nebraska, Missouri, Indiana, Ohio and Texas also produce large amounts.

Condition: Very good condtion, some minor surface staining on back of photo board.