Mexican Traditions - The History of the Pinata

The history of the pinata goes back a long time. One of the most popular Mexican traditions is breaking open a pinata. Today, pinatas have become common at many birthday parties and Christmas celebrations around the world. A pinata is a figure that is usually shaped like an animal. The pinata is made up of material such as paper mache, thin clay, or some other easily breakable composition.

A pinata is filled with small toys, fruits, and candy. Then the pinata is tied from a tree or suspended in some way. Participants, usually children, are blindfolded. Then they are given a stick to use to swing at the pinata. Each one tries to break the pinata open by hitting it with the stick. Often, traditional songs are sung as each person attempts to hit the pinata.

The history of the pinata may be somewhat surprising to most people. Most historians agree that the pinata originated in Asia, not in Spanish speaking countries. It is commonly believed that when Marco Polo visited China in the late 1200s, he was so intrigued by pinatas that he brought them back to Italy.

The first European holiday that started to use pinatas during the festivities was Lent. About a hundred years after Marco Polo brought pinatas back to Italy, Europeans started calling the first Sunday of Lent "Pinata Sunday". "Pinata Sunday" is the Sunday after Ash Wednesday. "Pinata Sunday" is still some of the most common of Mexican traditions.

Pinatas were introduced to the Americas by Spanish missionaries. The missionaries tried to get Christian converts using pinatas. They copied the Mexican traditions of breaking fragile clay pots that were filled with beads. The Mexicans used these clay pots to celebrate the birthday of the god of war. Just like the Chinese pinatas, a blindfolded person would try to break the pots by hitting them with a stick.

The Spanish missionaries covered the traditional Mexican clay pots with colorful papers to make them similar to Mexican traditions. They made the pinatas very scary looking. The clay pots represented Satan and gave the missionaries a unique way to introduce Christianity to the Mexican culture.