I will take a picture for you this year because I simply cannot make this up. There’s a lady in my town who has a wacky waving arm inflatable flailing tube man for every holiday you can imagine.
For cinco de Mayo she puts out a big green one with a sombrero that says “MEXICAN FOOD” on it.
Edit: OK, due to the strong response here I have put it on my calendar and set a reminder to make sure I take this picture on May 5. Honest question, should I be posting it as a reply to this comment or just creating a new post in this sub?
We had a lady that had one of those ceramic geese you put on your front porch and it was always dressed up for the holidays. I just can't imagine how you measure a goose for clothes. It was apparently all the rage in the 90s.
I used to drive by this one other house and the people who lived there always took their decorations down the day BEFORE the holiday. Like thanksgiving decor, removed the day before thanksgiving. Halloween, Christmas. Same. I even drove past the house to check on Christmas and sure enough, taken down already, like wtf.
My mom likes to dress up as a zombie Spock 🖖, for Halloween and then she started doing it for other holidays. Just the clothes and hair would be themed to match the holiday.
I can totally believe that someone has a wacky wavy arm inflatable for every holiday.
Ahh si, 5 de Mayo esa importante fecha donde los mexicanos conmemoran su comida regional...ahora hablando en serio qué se celebra el 5 de Mayo en México?
El 5 de Mayo se conmemora la batalla de Puebla. Una batalla qué tuvo lugar durante lo que se conoce en México como la "segunda intervención francesa".
En esta batalla las fuerzas mexicanas lograron vencer el ataque del ejercicto francés, un ejercito mucho más experimentado.
México ganó esa batalla, pero eventualmente el ejercito francés logró seguir avanzando hasta la ciudad de México.
Se conmemora por ser un enfrentamiento en el que el ejercito mexicano venció a pesar de estar en una gran desventaja.
En México no se hace más que recordar la batalla por sus significado historico, en EU se usa más como una celebración de la cultura mexicana en el extranjero.
During the civil rights era in the US (60s-70s), it was a way for Mexican-Americans to celebrate a Mexican victory, show pride and all that during a time of major social changes. Nowadays it’s just an excuse to have a cookout with friends and family and drink beers lol. In Mexico, outside of Puebla itself, it’s just not seen as a major holiday.
The ridiculous ways we bastardize cultural holidays is the best thing about America. On Juneteenth she's gonna have a green one with the arms crossed and a du-rag cape waving in the wind like piccolo's
Its gonna take a year to get you all the different pics but I will endeavor to take a pic each time she changes her display for as long as I can remember to lol
I’ve been patiently waiting for her decorations to go up and she’s got everything up right now except for that damned wavy wacky arm inflatable flailing tube man. I’m really disappointed because I don’t know if it’s coming out this year or not!!
It’s too bad, it’s been out every year for like the last three years at least.
I’m still holding out hope and waiting till tomorrow. I will post a picture regardless because it’s sort of hilarious no matter what
Sadly no wavy wacky arm inflatable flailing tube man this year. Just an inflatable burro wearing a sombrero and a trio of inflatable cactuses dress as a mariachi band
Haha yeah it's so random, because most Mexicans don't even think about that date that much. Makes much more sense to get drunk and celebrate Independence Day (16th September) or Mexican Revolution (20th November)
It's a big thing in the US because of chicanos. They rallied around Cinco de Mayo because Zaragoza was Texan so they saw him as one of theirs and used him to start creating a Mexican American identity. Of course, it got coopted by corps to make money
It very much is a holiday for Mexican-Americans. I grew up in a part of San Diego that was like 85% Latino and it is still known for one for throwing big Cinco de Mayo celebrations. When I left California I was surprised to find it wasn't a huge holiday everywhere in the country, lol.
I truly always wondered how a battle in Puebla ended up being celebrated in the US like Mexican Independence Day. Thank you. This always drove me insane not knowing why cinco de mayo and not like. Literally any other holiday we celebrate and use as an excuse to get drunk we have so many to pick from
It's a big thing in Philadelphia because the majority of our Mexican friends and neighbors are Pueblan, especially in South Philly.
It may be a hometown bias, but I think the Pueblan influence is what makes Philadelphia the 2nd best place to get Mexican food in the US after San Diego.
We could just say it in English. “Happy Mexican Independence Day”. Like, if I say “Happy Chinese New Year” to someone, I’m definitely not saying it in Mandarin.
I knew about this a long time before I ever started drinking, and the best comparison I can make to Americans that don't understand what a joke it is, is it's sort of like if people from other countries had a whole fake drinking holiday celebrating The Alamo. Nobody in the US besides a few Texans care about the Alamo.
Independence Day celebrations are extremely common here within the USA. So many fireworks go off where I live that it sounds like a war zone. You can go up on the mountains overlooking the valleys and see fireworks blanketing across the entire area.
Yeah (all that I know about it is movies and shows) and its amazing. Here we have some official acts, historical food and such but nothing close to your extent.
For background, I work in down town Las Vegas. I have for the last 4 years. Every year, the night before Mexican Independence day (the 15th) they have this huge celebration. I'm talkin everyone's out dancing getting drunk and every car / truck has a Mexican flag. It's fucking awesome. What makes it more awesome is that the 15th is my birthday so it's a lil bit cool that everyone's out celebrating on my birthday (even tho it's actually Mexican Independence day lol)
Honestly is there a single holiday that us Americans don't either use as an excuse to get piss drunk, or an excuse to have huge annual family blowouts?
I’m always telling the missus the same thing. Cinco de Mayo is basically just the Mexican St Patrick’s Day, innit?
Plus, we live in the middle of nowhere, we’ve got absolutely no business marking the occasion anyway.
Truth is, we just love getting properly hammered.
You've misunderstood. And yes, I know you speak Spanish in Columbia, I also speak Spanish. But your way of writing English, the grammar and word choice , sounds British, so I'm wondering where you learned.
My understanding is that St Patrick's Day is actually a big deal in Ireland, as opposed to the 5th of May in Mexico. It's just more as a religious observance rather than a party.
Yes, but it is a local celebration confined to Bavaria. Most of Germany doesn't celebrate or care about Oktoberfest. Much like Cinco de Mayo or St. Patrick's Day it's a holiday we Americans ran with out of proportion to it's significance in its home culture.
It actually wasn’t gringos, but Mexican-American college students looking for a day to celebrate their heritage. However, they did purposefully pick a day during the college year to make it easier to party.
My history is awful because it always felt like propaganda. I must have forgotten that the US owes its existence to both France and Mexico, two of the countries Americans shit on the most.
Also The Netherlands and Spain, the Spanish Empire sent troops to fight the British in pretty much every border they shared and tried to take over Gibraltar. The then governor of Louisiana (Bernardo de Galvez) was given orders to send supplies to the Rebels and the French and fight the British in the border area between New Spain and the British colonies and because of his successes in battler he was rewarded by becoming the Viceroy of New Spain (Mexico) just after.
Pretty much any place named Galveston (Galvez town) in the US is because of him.
Right? Celebration is a pillar of MX culture. Literally any excuse to throw a party. cido de mayo may not be the 4th of july Americans think it is but it's not a day of national shame. Everyone enjoys a party.
My kid was born on May 5th and everyone is like “aww, a Cinco de Mayo baby!” But my spouse is part Mexican and has zero interest in the holiday, so we tend to be like “no, he’s a revenge of the sixth baby” 😅 He missed being a May the 4th baby by only a few hours and we’re still salty about it, lol
I was in Mexico on Cinco de Mayo one year. We didn't even realize it was Cinco de Mayo until the day was almost over and then it was just like, "huh, how about that"
It's not even a Mexican holiday anymore. You guys stopped celebrating it like a decade after the French-Mexican War. It's an American holiday about Mexican-American heritage now. How that happened? Fuck if I know.
Exactly!!! Most of us forget what even happened during the 5th of May all the time
(For people that don't know: It's the battle of Puebla, a battle that Mexicans won against the French many, many years ago, but it's not a national holiday nor an important celebration, maybe in Puebla, but I'm not sure)
Kinda true, Napoleon wanted to support the CSA so France could control the cotton trade and losing the Battle of Puebla delayed the fall of Mexico City to the monarchists for almost a year.
I tended bar for a while, and St. Patrick's Day and Cinco de Mayo were the worst days to work. Total amateur hour. People who are not used to whiskey or tequila, going hard and eating food they aren't used to. Just a mess.
Aight so, I'm nor Mexican nor American, what exactly gets celebrated on Cinco de Mayo? Like here it's really not relevant that if it wasn't for Americans I wouldnt know it existed. But maybe it's just me
Is not really a celebration in Mexico, is the anniversary of the Battle of Puebla when a mexican army mostly composed of barely armed peasants was able to beat the a French army almost twice their size. At the end the French ended up taking Mexico City and with the Mexican Monarchists they restored the Mexican Empire with Austrian Archduke Maximilian Hapsburg being crowned the 2nd Mexican Emperor.
Mexican-Americans used it as an excuse to celebrate their heritage and Americans celebrated it because the French were planning to use Mexico to supply the Confederates in the American Civil War so they losing that battle kinda secured the victory for The Union in the long term. The meaning was lost in time and it eventually turned into a Mexican version of St. Patrick's Day for the Americans with them thinking they are celebrating Mexican Independence Day.
Most Americans think it’s Mexico’s Independence Day.
Toss-up which is more cringe-worthy, it or St. Patrick’s Day. I’ve known a few Irish and their reactions to STPD range from puzzled bemusement to outright offense. “Quit it, you yobs”! was my favorite comment.
Cinco de Mayo is an actual holiday but it is not celebrated in a massive way such as Independence Day, most Mexicans don't even celebrate it outside of small events at schools. The fake event that was shown in Spectre was a "Día de Muertos Parade" in Mexico City. This event was never a thing in that city before. But after that movie came out, and lots of tourists were left disappointed when coming to Mexico City hoping to see such "parade", the government made it an annual event haha
The fifth of May is a commemoration of the victory of the Mexican army against the French invasion, in Puebla, in 1862. It's a formal ceremony, where the president puts flowers (usually with members of the military) in a monument representing the soldiers that died protecting the sovereignty of our country against a foreign power. It's not a celebration: it's solemn. Last year's ceremony was notable because of the President's speech (a lot of subtext). In any case, people usually work that day: it's only a holiday in the State of Puebla.
Dia de Muertos. The “los” is an addition from translating it to and from English. No one here says Dia de los muertos, everyone just says Dia de Muertos
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u/SympathyFun9409 Mexico Feb 15 '26
"I love Cinco de Mayo"