Muertitos

On the cusp of the Day of the Dead, it's a propitious moment to plug a store called Miniaturas Felguérez, located at Hamburgo 85 in the Zona Rosa. For decades they have sold miniature toys -- dolls, soldiers, and the like -- but their specialty has been these tiny boxes, a few inches wide, tall and deep, that depict calaveras (skeletons) in comic situations.

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They may be, as in this diorama, engaged in playing the Hallelujah Chorus.

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Or there may be an explicit political message, as in this one, which says, "Mexicans, welcome to California."

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Or in this, which depicts Mexican politicians as rats (rata is synonymous with thief in Mexican slang).

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My favorite calavera here is a rendering of Marilyn Monroe. Actually I picked her up in Cuernavaca, but there is a whole host of celebrity skeletons at Felguérez.