Mark Preston wrote:
> Thanks, Rich,
>
> Tu tiene razon!
>
> But, it still doesn't explain how it came to be a popular AMERICAN holiday.

Mexicans, btw, are Americans. Not USians, but Americans. Just like
Canadians and Brazilians. . . common usage aside.

It is popular for the reason I mentioned. Were it not for all the US
college students flocking south for a blow-off before finals and Corona
catering to them, it would be below most everyone's radar screen -
unless they came from Mexico, historical ties to the US notwithstanding.

This "holiday" back in the 60's barely raised eyebrows here in SoCal. As
college kids picked up on the day's timing relative to the usual
semester flow of holidays and tests, it became another reason to go
south and blow-off steam. Nada mas.

Corona, which had gained entry into the US on the back of surfers going
south, saw a good thing. The rest is history.

Cinco is celebrated by a lot of Mexicna Americans in the US because of
their heritage. Look at any big city's Italian section of town on big
holidays or Oktoberfest, if you think only Mexicnas do this. And we
"Americans" celebrate our own holidays while in foreign countries. We
celebrated Thanksgiving in Guadalajara and the 4th of July.


jim