A sad note in our history.....
I was just a youngster at that time, living near 1st
street and Boyle Heights, near downtown Los Angeles
and remember the pachucos, most of them were 1st and
2nd generation Mexican-Americans.  

We were literately 2nd class citizens and were treated
worst than most other ethic groups;  when even while
our fathers, uncles, cousins, friends, were dying in
the battle fields of Europe and Asia defending the
same people that hated us!

It was only my Christan faith that saved me.  I knew
that God would eventually punish those that mistreated
us.

Alberto.

--- janet iglesias  wrote:


---------------------------------

I know I'm a little bit late to jump into this
conversation but there is a great example of what
Esperanza is stating in the movie "American Me" with
Edward James Olmos. Great movie on how gangs influence
Los Angeles.



~Janet Iglesias, San Diego CA



>From: latina1955@...
>Reply-To: ranchos@yahoogroups.com
>To: ranchos

Rancho:

Un rancho es un asentamiento o lugar donde se establece una persona o
una comunidad.

Rancho: es un lugar fuera de una poblacion donde se albergan varias
personas.

Rancho: Granja donde se crian caballos, vacas y otros animales
domesticos.

Hay ranchos dedicados a la Agricultura y otros a la Ganaderia.

I hope this helps.

John Gonzalez
Wildomar, CA
S.W. Riverside County

Joseph,

My answer to you comes from my own observations and experiences.  I've never seen any scholarly research work on "pachuquismo".  I don't want to sound as though I somehow know everything about the subject.  My answere to your questions is "yes".  Gangs existed before the pachuco style of dress became popular.  I saw the gangsters adopt the pachuco style of dress.  I also saw many young people, non-criminal, non-gangster, imitate the style of dress.  The non-gangster pachuco was accepting of any and all who wanted to "join" the "movement".  I saw anglos, african-americans and others accepted as gangsters.  The depiction of this in Luis Valdez' movie, "Zoot Suit", matches my recollections.  As a pre-teen and teen-ager I thought it was cool to peg my baggy pants.  There is a way to fold and roll up the pant leg so that it looks custom-made (from a distance).  Some people in the forties and fifties accepted the pachuco style just as many young people today seem to think that the

If anyone is into "Podcasting" more so from the listening standpoint
here is something of interest for those interested in an insiders view
of things at the vatican:

http://www.catholicinsider.com/

joseph

ps: down load one or two shows to your computer and have a listen.

David P. Delgado wrote:

Emilie,

As I remember, Posada created a caricature of the overdressed upper class types in 19th Century Mexico.  El Catrin = "dandy" and la Catrina is the feminine form of the word.  La Catrina was a person but a generic stereotype.  Posada did not intend the caricature to be a complimentary one.The only other people I heard use the word "catrin" were the pachucos in the late 1940's and the early '50's.  They used it to describe someone who was dressed up and looked "sharp".  I grew up in Southern Cal and saw many pachucos including family members.

man did the pachucos dress sharp!!! My uncle was one and I can remember
his cool threads. I was young and never understood but did the pachucos
hang together as gangs? Or were they all individuals? Did the "pachuco
movement" ever cross the border? Are there gangs in Mexico now. . .as in
the types of gangs we see in US now?

curious minds need to know,

joseph

David in Albany, CA

-----Original Message--