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chapter five
specialized in the production of domestic lead glazed wares such as cazuelas, ollas, bowls and flower pots. Most of the potters also have agricultural fields. Now young people prefer to study or to work in Mexico City. Santa María Canchesdá, Santiago Coachochitlan and San Juanico are three pottery towns close to the city of Temascalcingo in the northwest of the state of Mexico. They are now the most important producers of lead glazed wares in this state, and their products are widely distributed in the country. Although these towns are only three kilometers separated from each other, they have their own specialization. In Santa María are mainly manufactured cazuelas, ollas and bowls; in Santiago flower pots, and in San Juanico ollas for piñatas and roof tiles. In the three towns many adults speak Mazahua. According to a previous study in the area (Papousek 1981), at the end of the 1960s ceramic-making was almost exclusive of the Mazahua population, and potters had difficulties with the distribution of their products as urban markets were far away and only a few brokers had trucks. However, Papousek (1981:75) himself recognized that this situation began to change in the 1970s. Today we observe several differences to his early descriptions. The highway that connects Mexico City and Michoacan is very close to the towns. A large part of the population, not only the Mazahua, is devoted to this activity and young people are involved and have their own workshops. Migration to the United States is not a central concern as is the case of other towns in the state of Mexico. Clay banks are close to the towns but potters have to buy it. State programs of development have introduced electric mills and have tried to substitute lead glaze with a non-lead glaze but without success. The town of Huasca is twenty-five kilometers to the north-east of Pachuca in the state of Hidalgo. In a sector of the town there are several families specialized in the manufacture of lead glazed wares for domestic purposes such as cazuelas, ollas, small pitchers and bowls. Potters explain that in the last twenty years the ceramic industry had been declining but at present it has a new impetus. In the past there were only six potters while today there are thirty-eight, and some of them are young people. State programs of development have arrived in the town although they are still in the early stages. Some potters are now changing the orientation of their production; instead of making domestic implements they are concentrating in the manufacture of low-quality small pitchers made by wheel to serve alcoholic beverages at fairs.