The History of the Piñata

Piñata- a decorated vessel (as of papier-mâché) filled with candies, fruits, and gifts and hung up to be broken with sticks by blindfolded persons as part of especially Latin-American festivities (Merriam-Webster Dictionary). Piñatas have been around for centuries as a staple of Latin American culture. Thought by some to have originated among the Aztecs or Mayans, modern Piñatas are a truly Mexican tradition. Although their origin is debated. Nevertheless piñatas are an interesting phenomenon, with an international spread.

The origin of piñatas are unclear. Some say they originated in Mexico, in perhaps the Mayan or Aztec cultures who made clay pots in the shape of their deities, meant to be broken. Their spilled contents to signify the gifts of their gods to the people. Others say they were brought there by Spanish Conquistadors, after Marco Polo witnessed on his travels the Chinese fashioning animal figures and beating them on the new years to release colorful seeds. They say that the similarity of this tradition to the Mayan one was the reason for its popularity. Either way, the practice of breaking piñatas has permeated all Latin cultures. The advent of modern piñata traditions, however, are believed to have came about in the 16th century as a way for Spanish missionaries to integrate the native, pagan peoples into their Christmas celebrations. Basically used to evangelize their religion of Catholicism. Thus the practice of breaking piñatas on Christmas began.

As another example in the difference between piñatas ancient and modern use, is the preferred shape of the vessel. Traditionally, the European influenced Piñatas were meant to be star-shaped, with seven points representing the seven deadly sins, and the bright colors, temptation. The blindfolded whacking was a symbol of the virtue and will to overcome both. Today, they come in a plethora of shapes, from symbols like hearts and moons, to pop-culture characters, like the super awesome really cool...