It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like...?

There are defenders of the purity of Mexican culture who decry the fact that the Day of the Dead has become intertwined (or they would say contaminated) with the celebration of Halloween.  It is probably inevitable, given the pervasive influence of the U.S. throughout the world.  And besides, both celebrations spring from the Church calendar with November 1st as All Saints' Day (or All Hallows' Day) and November 2nd as All Souls' Day.  The holiday has become highly commercialized, and even the government promotes it as a source of tourist revenue.

For better or worse, signs of Day of the Dead / Halloween are everywhere here in Mexico City.  Here are some pictures I took during my wanderings around the city.  (And there will surely be more to come!)

  A restaurant at a nearby mall is advertising these "Monster Burgers" with cheese cut to look like fangs.

Sears' latest ad campaign has a Day of the Dead theme.

It says, "Remembering them (the departed) is giving them life."

Butterflies have become associated with the Day of the Dead because it is around this time of year that the monarchs return to their winter home in the mountains of central Mexico.

This trio of ghosts outside a barber shop is more Halloween than Day of the Dead.

Is this "calaca" (skeleton) at the entrance to a gym resting after his workout?

This inflatable decoration outside a business looks very Mexican...

But the spider hanging from the balcony of the same establishment

is definitely more Halloween.

Everywhere you will find stalls set up on the streets selling trinkets 

that are a mixture of the two holidays.

This "calaca" greets visitors to a branch of "El Moro", a chain that sells churros and chocolate.

Notice also the paper marigolds hanging from the ceiling.

"La Catrina", the elegantly dressed skeleton, has become the icon of the Day of the Dead.

This one is on the window of a bicycle shop.

This bloody corpse hanging outside of a restaurant is like something out of a Hollywood slasher movie.  (Not a very appetizing sight for the dining patrons, in my opinion.)

Notice the "papel picado" (cut paper) banners that are a traditional decoration.  

Nowadays many of the banners are made of plastic so that they can be hung outside.

A hamburger joint is advertising "Catrina Burgers" made with "pan de muerto".

I'm not sure how that would taste since bread of the dead is sweet.

Krispy Kreme has got into the act by selling Minion Monsters.

There's Frankenstein Minion, Mummy Minion, and Dracula Minion.

In the fountain pool in front of the World Trade Center there is a "trajinera", one of the flat-bottomed boats that ply the canals of Xochimilco.   It carries a cargo of marigolds.

A bigger than life "Catrina"

The feather boa around her shoulders is Quetzalcoatl, the feathered serpent god of pre-Hispanic civilizations.

Nearby is her male counterpart, "El Catrín"

Organ grinders are everywhere in the city.  If I gave a coin to each one, I would quickly be out of change.  However, this one, suitably attired for the season, deserved a five peso tip.