CWB Posted May 12, 2013 Report Posted May 12, 2013 Courtesy of Chapala on Facebook. Lately they've been posting a lot of old pictures.
Uncle Jack Posted May 12, 2013 Report Posted May 12, 2013 If you showed someone wearing a hat like that today, you'd be accused of raceism. uj
CWB Posted May 12, 2013 Author Report Posted May 12, 2013 I tried to post a picture I thought people might like to see and all you can do is bring up racism. Sad.
giltner68 Posted May 12, 2013 Report Posted May 12, 2013 Some things change, but not a lot, I looked out the window yesterday to see a fellow plowing a corn field with a two horse team and a single blade plow?
d-d Posted May 12, 2013 Report Posted May 12, 2013 That looks like a like a long, rough ride. And I complain when we have to take the bus from the airplane to the terminal. Thanks for posting that. I hope there are more to come.
elehne1 Posted May 12, 2013 Report Posted May 12, 2013 Thank you for posting the photo. I will have to check out their Facebook page.
cookj5 Posted May 12, 2013 Report Posted May 12, 2013 According to Sybille Bedford's "A Visit to Don Otavio", in the very early 1950s the only way you could travel from Chapala to Ajijic was a deeply rutted ox cart track. The paths across the arroyos in between were often washed out. Most people got from point to point around the Lake by boat.
Floradude Posted May 12, 2013 Report Posted May 12, 2013 Great picture. Thanks for posting. The hats are Mexico....then and now.
giltner68 Posted May 12, 2013 Report Posted May 12, 2013 jnc, I've always wondered about the little park on the W side of Chapala by the lake. If you look, you'll see the ficus trees are in two lines about an ox cart apart and we always wondered if that was the original road before the park was created and the road we now drive on was built.
FHBOY Posted May 12, 2013 Report Posted May 12, 2013 There is a book about the history of Lakeside/Chapala. We were told about it but do not know the name. Can anyone help?
cookj5 Posted May 12, 2013 Report Posted May 12, 2013 jnc, I've always wondered about the little park on the W side of Chapala by the lake. If you look, you'll see the ficus trees are in two lines about an ox cart apart and we always wondered if that was the original road before the park was created and the road we now drive on was built. Could be. The original road was along the line of Ocampo - Constitución - Camino Real - Ramon Corona and eventually Hidalgo into Chapala. Except for the few blocks on either side of the Ajijic Plaza (and possibly the same in San Antonio Tlay.) which were cobblestoned, the rest was just deep ox cart ruts through the country. That must have been tough going. I have an old photo of the Ajiijc Plaza, taken from the corner just west of the Bancomer looking toward the Parroquia. There is no clock in the Parroquia tower so it must have been taken in the 1940s or earlier. There is a man sitting on the curb wearing the same kind of sombrero seen in the photo at the beginning of this thread. No cars in evidence. In Neill James' book "Dust on my Heart" she speaks of the installation of the clock during her early years in Ajijic, so it must have been taken earlier than that. I love old period photos.
Monessen Posted May 12, 2013 Report Posted May 12, 2013 Two books about Ajijic with some mention of Chapala are written by Dane Chandos (not his real name and really referring to more than one writer). VILLAGE IN THE SUN (1945) and HOUSE IN THE SUN describe life in Lakeside almost 70 years ago. I found mine on Amazon but I have been told that you can borrow them at the LCS library. They are fascinating to read if you live down here. You can just imagine the three damaged "bridges" and the washed out road from Ajijic to Chapala. He describes the houses, the people and his life here. He writes of Guadalajara (Zapopan), in HOUSE IN THE SUN especially but mentions trips there in both books. He died young (to me) and is buried along with his father in the Ajijic Cemetery down by the Ocampo entrance. I wish that they would republish both books again. I have the third edition (1998) published by Tlayacapan Press in San Antonio Tlayacapan.
bmh Posted May 12, 2013 Report Posted May 12, 2013 They can be purchased from the bookstore by Torrito off and on.
ichbinsaege Posted May 12, 2013 Report Posted May 12, 2013 jnc, I've always wondered about the little park on the W side of Chapala by the lake. If you look, you'll see the ficus trees are in two lines about an ox cart apart and we always wondered if that was the original road before the park was created and the road we now drive on was built. I noticed that too. Parque Milagrosa, is the name (I believe). My sister came to visit and decided the parks name is Broccoli Park, because the ficus trees - when freshly trimmed - look like stalks of broccoli.
kbleitch Posted May 12, 2013 Report Posted May 12, 2013 Unfortunately, the librerÃa by El Torito is no more. I thought I saw someone loading up boxes out the back door a couple of weeks ago and when I walked past the inside door last Wednesday, it is empty with a "se renta" notice posted.
KathyTX Posted May 18, 2013 Report Posted May 18, 2013 Fascinating; the picture and the posts. It looks like it would have been a dusty, rough ride. A few years ago, we went to Chiapas with friends. Along the way, I saw several farmers using a single blade plow. Usually with one horse or mule, sometimes 2.
sparks Posted May 18, 2013 Report Posted May 18, 2013 Two books about Ajijic with some mention of Chapala are written by Dane Chandos (not his real name and really referring to more than one writer). VILLAGE IN THE SUN (1945) and HOUSE IN THE SUN describe life in Lakeside almost 70 years ago. I found mine on Amazon but I have been told that you can borrow them at the LCS library. I bought both of those on Amazon without realizing it was Amazon UK. Paid more for shipping than the books
Monessen Posted May 18, 2013 Report Posted May 18, 2013 The third printing of Village in the Sun by Dane Chandos had only 1,000 copies printed. I tried buying it at Diane Pearl (sp?) a couple of months ago and she said that she wished that it would be reprinted because people can't get it anymore. I got mine at a fairly good price on Amazon.com but I saw copies for what I thought were outrageous prices. This all makes me think that your options may only be to borrow it from the LCS library or to hold your breath and order it on Amazon. I had a friend who offered to loan me a copy but I wanted my own. An English professor once told me in class that when you loan a book to someone in the USA it seems to mean that they can eventually never return it. He thought that it was a cultural thing. I'm afraid that I might have proved his point a couple of times myself.
satnrose Posted May 18, 2013 Report Posted May 18, 2013 If anyone wants "Village in the Sun" I have the book and happy to pass it on. I couldn't wade through it. That says more about me than the book. I loved Kerovac's descriptions of Mexico from "On the Road".
BarbNapa Posted May 19, 2013 Report Posted May 19, 2013 Really loved the old pictures. Am so excited about coming to Ajijic on October. Are the old castle-type buildings still standing? It is always sobering when you see folks still working the land using the old ways - less of a carbon footprint, and so very basic to their survival.
Ruidoso Posted May 19, 2013 Report Posted May 19, 2013 Relatively new pictures of Chapala not Ajijic with a few oldies
GaleM Posted May 20, 2013 Report Posted May 20, 2013 M.L.K. Fisher was in the lakeside area in 1941 and wrote about it. I can't remember the name of the book though.
FHBOY Posted May 20, 2013 Report Posted May 20, 2013 If anyone wants "Village in the Sun" I have the book and happy to pass it on. I couldn't wade through it. That says more about me than the book. I loved Kerovac's descriptions of Mexico from "On the Road". Please PM me where/when I can pick it up. BTW - Jack Kerouac - at our age we mix up more letters, right?
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